LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


610.92 
Sp3g 


I.H.S. 


A    GROUP    OF 


DISTINGUISHED 


PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 


OF 


CHICAGO 


A  COLLECTION   OF  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES   OF  MANY  OF  THE  EMINENT 
REPRESENTATIVES,  PAST  AND   PRESENT,  OF  THE   MED- 
ICAL   PROFESSION   OF  CHICAGO 


COMPILED   BY    F.    M.    SPERRY 


ILLUSTRATED 


CHICAGO 

J.     H.    BEERS     &     CO. 
i  e  o  4 


r 


INDBX 


Allen,  Jonathan  Adams  127 

Andrews,   Edmund    53 

Babcock,  Robert  Hall  123 

Bartlett,  John   : 44 

Billings,  Frank   168 

Bishop,  Seth  Scott 195 

Blaney,  James  Van  Zandt  77 

Bogue,  R.  G 207 

Brainard,   Daniel    236 

Brophy,  Truman  W 209 

Brower,  Daniel  Roberts  99 

Byford,  Henry  T 154 

Byford,  William  Heath  10 

Gary,  Frank  66 

Christopher,  Walter  S 142 

Church,  Archibald  97 

Cotton,  Alfred  Cleveland 215 

Danforth,  Isaac  N 120 

Davis,  Nathan  Smith,  Jr 175 

Davis,  Nathan  Smith,  Sr 1 

De  Lee,  Joseph  Bolivar 211 

Dewey,  Richard   198 

Dickinson,  Frances   150 

Dudley,  E.  C 63 

Dyas,  William  Godfrey  148 

Earle,  Charles  Warrington   163 

Evans,  John  185 

Favill,  Henry  Baird 199 

Fenger,  Christian  35 

Freer,  Joseph  W 194 

Goodkind,  Maurice  L 220 

Gunn,  Moses  1 30 


Hall,  Winfield  Scott   133 

Hamilton,  John  B 231 

Harmon,  Elijah  D 42 

Harris,  Malcolm  LaSalle  230 

Hektoen,   Ludvig   132 

Henrotin,  Fernand 127 

Herrick,  William  B 103 

Hollister,  John  Hamilcar 201 

Holmes,  Edward  Lorenzo  79 

Hotz,  Ferdinand  Carl  105 

Ingals,  Ephraim   235 

Ingals,  Ephraim  Fletcher 107 

Jackson,  Abraham  Reeves 72 

Jewell,  James  Stewart  219 

Johnson,  Frank  Seward 52 

Johnson,  Hosmer  Allen  49 

Jones,  Samuel  J 206 

Lyman,  Henry  M 32 

Martin,  Franklin  H 189 

Mergler,  Marie  J 1 '  ° 

Miller,  DeLaskie   46 

Miller.  Truman  W 106 

Murphy,  John  B 73 

Newman,  Henry  Parker 89 

Owens,  John  E 1 84 

Parkes,  Charles  Theodore 221 

Quine,  William  E 69 

Ranch,  John  M ' 117 

Rea,  Robert  Laughlin  00 

Ridlon,  John  179 


I  I  80464 


vi  INDEX. 


PAGE  PAGE 

Robinson,   Byron    114  Thompson,  Mary  Harris  57 

Robison,  John  Albert  3GU 

Van  Hook,  Weller  187 

Senn,  Nicholas  15 

Smith,  Charles  Oilman 141  Waite,  Lucy  62 

Stevenson,  Sarah  Hackett 145  Waugh,  William  F 128 

Wolcott,  Alexander  31 

Talbot,  Eugene  Solomon  81  Wood,  Casey  A 203 


A  GROUP  OF  DISTINGUISHED 


PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 


OK  CHICAQO 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOiS 
URDANA 


s.  p, 


A  GROUP  OF  DISTINGUISHED 
PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 


NATHAN  SMITH  DAVIS,  M.  D.,  SR. 

In  considering  the  character  and  career  of  this  eminent  member  of  the 
medical  faculty,  the  impartial  observer  will  be  disposed  to  rank  him  not  only 
among  the  most  distinguished  members  of  his  profession,  but  also  as  one  of 
those  men  of  broad  culture  and  genuine  benevolence  who  do  honor  to  man- 
kind at  large.  In  overcoming  obstacles,  he  has  exhibited  patience  and  per- 
sistence; through  a  long  and  busy  life  he  has  known  none  but  worthy  motives; 
to  the  practice  of  his  profession  he  has  brought  rare  skill  and  inventive 
resource;  while  in  the  imparting  of  instruction,  whether  through  his  pen  or  in 
the  class  room,  he  has  shown  profound  aptness.  Such  qualities  as  these  stamp 
him  as  a  man  of  genius,  and  entitle  him  to  be  classed  with  the  benefactors  of 
mankind. 

Dr.  Davis  was  born  on  January  9,  1817,  in  a  rude  cabin  of  logs,  erected 
by  his  father,  Dow  Davis,  among  the  primitive  forests  of  Chenango  county, 
New  York,  of  which  his  parents  were  pioneer  settlers.  He  was  the  young- 
est of  a  family  of  seven  children,  and  was  deprived  of  a  mother's  care  at  the 
tender  age  of  seven  years,  Mrs.  Davis,  whose  maiden  name  was  Eleanor 
Smith,  having  died  in  1824.  His  father  lived  to  attain  the  extraordinary  age 
of  ninety  years,  and  died  upon  the  farm  which  he  had  reclaimed  from  the 
giants  of  the  forest. 

The  early  years  of  Dr.  Davis's  life  were  passed  much  as  were  those  of 
other  farmers'  sons  in  a  new  settlement,  i.  e.,  in  hard  work  during  the  summer, 
and  in  attendance  upon  the  district  schools  in  the  winter  months.  This  alterna- 
tion of  study  with  work  continued  until  he  reached  the  age  of  sixteen  years, 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  outdoor  life  and  manual  exercise  did  much  to 
build  up  his  naturally  spare  form  into  healthy,  robust  manhood.  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  probable  that  a  frontier  life  was  not  without  its  influence  in  forming 


2  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

and  fostering  those  habits  of  industry  and  self-reliance  which  proved  such 
potent  factors  in  achieving  success  in  after  life. 

While  yet  a  boy,  however,  he  displayed  an  inborn  thirst  for  knowledge, 
a  fondness  for  study,  and  an  aptitude  in  acquiring  such  learning  as  was 
within  his  reach,  which  convinced  his  father  that  to  confine  his  native  abilities 
within  the  limits  of  a  woodland  farm  would  be  to  do  the  boy  an  injustice;  and 
while  possessed  of  only  limited  means,  he  sent  young  Nathan  to  the  Cazenovia 
Seminary  when  the  latter  had  reached  his  sixteenth  year.  He  attended  that 
institution  for  only  one  session,  but  his  thirst  was  intensified,  rather  than 
slaked,  and  in  April,  1834,  he  began  the  study  of  the  profession  on  whose  prac- 
tice and  schools,  whose  ethics  and  culture,  he  was  destined  to  shed  a  brilliant 
and  a  permanent  light.  His  first  preceptor  was  Dr.  Daniel  Clark,  of  Che- 
nango  county.  Within  a  few  months  he  entered  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  of  Western  New  York,  as  a  matriculant,  graduating  therefrom, 
with  distinguished  honor,  on  January  31,  1837,  before  he  had  reached  the 
age  which  entitled  him  to  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage.  Meanwhile,  he  had 
become  a  student  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Thomas  Jackson,  of  Binghamton,  New 
York,  continuing  under  his  instruction  until  he  received  his  final  degree. 

The  subject  of  his  graduating  thesis  was  "Animal  Temperature,"  and  in 
this  he  combated  the  (then)  generally  accepted  theory  that  the  evolution  of 
heat  had  its  origin  in  the  union  of  oxygen  and  carbon  in  the  lungs,  maintain- 
ing that  its  evolution  was  in  the  tissues.  The  inherent  merit  of  his  argument 
was  such,  and  the  premises  upon  which  it  rested  were  so  accurately  established 
by  experimental  investigation,  that  the  Faculty  of  the  college  selected  it  as 
one  of  those  to  be  publicly  read  on  the  day  of  his  graduation.  He  began  his 
professional  career  as  a  general  practitioner,  at  Vienna,  New  York,  his  partner 
being  Dr.  Daniel  Chatfield.  The  field  was  too  narrow  to  meet  his  aspirations, 
and  he  soon  felt  its  limitations.  His  partnership .  with  Dr.  Chatfield  was 
formed  in  February,  1837,  and  the  following  July  it  was  dissolved,  Dr.  Davis 
removing  to  Binghamton,  in  the  same  State,  where  he  at  once  commanded 
professional  confidence  and  popular  patronage.  He  had  scarcely  resided  at 
Binghamton  for  a  year  when  he  was  married  to  Anna  Maria,  a  daughter  of 
Hon.  John  Parker,  of  Vienna,  for  whom  he  had  formed  a  strong  attachment 
during  his  brief  sojourn  in  that  village. 

The  exacting  demands  of  a  constantly  increasing  general  practice  did  not 
hamper  Dr.  Davis  in  the  prosecution  of  those  scientific  studies  which  lay  near- 
est to  his  heart.  Chemistry,  Medical  Botany,  Geology  and  Political  Economy 
were  among  his  favorite  subjects  of  research,  while  at  the  same  time  he  strove 
to  perfect  himself  in  the  study  of  Surgical  Anatomy.  Even  at  this  early 
period  in  his  career,  he  displayed  that  interest  in  a  sound  professional  educa- 
tion which  so  pre-eminently  characterized  him  in  later  years.  It  was  his 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  3 

habit,  during  the  winter  months,  to  dissect  one  or  two  cadavers,  in  a  room 
adjoining  his  office,  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  the  resident  medical  stu- 
dents of  Binghamton,  and  he  frequently  responded  to  requests  to  lecture  on 
topics  connected  with  Physiology,  Botany  and  Chemistry,  before  the  advanced 
pupils  of  the  district  schools,  and  for  the  Binghamton  Academy.  Of  the  last 
named  institution  he  was  one  of  the  founders,  as  also  of  the  Lyceum  Debating 
Society  of  Binghamton ;  and  it  is  worth  while  to  state  that  it  was  largely  in 
this  amateur  school  of  oratory  and  debate  that  he  acquired  that  fluency  of  dic- 
tion, perspicacity  of  statement,  solidity  of  argument  and  aptness  of  illustration 
which,  in  after  years,  contributed  to  his  eminence  as  a  lecturer  and  a  writer. 
He  was  yet  a  young  man  when  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Broome 
County  Medical  Society,  of  which  body  he  was  Secretary  from  1841  to  1843, 
and  Librarian  from  1843  t°  I&47,  as  well  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Cen- 
sors for  several  years.  In  1843  ne  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  represent  his 
county  organization  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Medical  Society,  at 
Albany.  Even  at  this  time  he  was  well  and  favorably  known  to  the  profession 
throughout  the  State  of  New  York  by  reason  of  many  valuable  brochures 
which  had  already  appeared  from  his  pen.  In  1840  (three  years  after  grad- 
uation) he  had  w-on  the  first  prize  offered  by  the  State  Society  for  the  best 
essay  upon  "Diseases  of  the  Spinal  Column,  their  Causes,  Diagnosis  and  Mode 
of  Treatment."  In  1841  he  had  won  another  prize  through  his  contribution  to 
medical  science  entitled  "Analysis  of  the  Discoveries  concerning  the  Physi- 
ology of  the  Nervous  System."  It  followed  that  when  he  took  his  seat  as  a 
delegate  in  the  body  which  represented  the  highest  medical  learning  of  the 
State  his  voice  was  heard  with  respectful  attention.  It  was  then  and  there 
that  he  made  his  first  public  plea  for  a  higher  standard  of  professional  quali- 
fication. He  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions  which,  even  because  of  their 
novelty,  could  scarcely  have  failed  to  provoke  discussion.  He  was  in  advance 
of  the  time,  but  he  was  "building  better  than  he  knew."  They  called  for  a 
better  general  education  for  medical  postulants,  a  lengthening  of  the  course 
of  instruction,  a  grading  of  the  curriculum,  and  the  establishment  of  inde- 
pendent boards  of  medical  examiners.  While  his  proposed  resolutions  were 
not  adopted  they  gave  rise  to  earnest  and  thoughtful  discussion.  At  the  next 
annual  meeting  of  the  State  Society  (in  February,  1845)  a  ca^  was  issued  for 
a  National  Convention  of  Delegates  from  medical  colleges  and  societies 
throughout  the  Union,  "to  meet  at  New  York,  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  May, 
1846,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting  some  concerted  action."  Dr.  Davis  was 
made  chairman  of  the  committee  to  summon  the  convention  and  carry  the 
project  to  a  successful  result.  The  work  was  well  done;  and  from  this  incep- 
tion has  grown  the  American  Medical  Association,  embracing  representatives 
from  every  State  and  from  every  reputable  college  in  the  country;  an  organ- 


4  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

ization  universal,  permanent  and  efficient,  and  for  the  formation  of  which  the 
medical  profession  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  world  owes  Dr.  Davis  a 
deep  and  lasting  debt  of  gratitude.  During  the  entire  history  of  the  organiza- 
tion he  has  played  an  important  part,  alike  in  its  proceedings  and  its  advance- 
ment. During  more  than  half  a  century  he  was  absent  from  only  four 
of  its  annual  meetings,  and  in  its  achievements  he  may  well  feel  a  personal — 
almost  a  paternal — pride,  having  been  more  thoroughly  identified  with  its 
success  than  any  other  individual  physician  in  the  land. 

The  wider  acquaintance  with  his  professional  brethren,  which  was  a  nec- 
essary concomitant  of  his  attendance  upon  these  State  and  National  gather- 
ings, naturally  resulted  in  an  enlargement  of  his  views  as  to  his  own  personal 
sphere  of  practice  and  usefulness.  In  the  summer  of  1847  ne  removed  to 
New  York  City,  where,  for  a  time,  he  was  a  general  practitioner.  The  light 
of  his  genius,  however,  burned  too  vividly  long  to  be  "hid  under  a  bushel." 
His  first  position  as  an  instructor  was  in  the  New  York  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  when  he  took  charge  of  the  dissecting  rooms,  and  taught  Prac- 
tical Anatomy.  Later,  by  special  request  of  the  Faculty,  he  delivered  the 
spring  term  course  of  lectures  upon  Medical  Jurisprudence.  In  July,  1849,  ne 
accepted  the  proffered  Chair  of  Physrology  and  General  Pathology  in  Rush 
Medical  College,  Chicago.  He  deferred  entering  upon  the  duties  of  his  new 
position  until  September,  because  of  an  epidemic  of  cholera  then  prevailing  in 
New  York,  as  well  as  in  most  of  the  cities  and  many  of  the  rural  districts 
throughout  the  country.  Until  the  end  of  August  his  time  was  fully  occupied, 
night  and  day,  in  the  care  of  the  sufferers  from  the  deadly  scourge.  He  deliv- 
ered his  introductory  lecture  at  Rush  the  first  week  in  October.  In  this  con- 
nection may  be  quoted  the  words  of  two  other  eminent  Chicago  practitioners, 
Drs.  Senn  and  Lyman.  Dr.  Nicholas  Senn,  the  eminent  surgeon,  than  whom 
no  better  authority  can  be  quoted,  gives  him  this  unstinted  praise :  "He  is 
unquestionably  the  Nestor  of  Medicine  in  Chicago.  His  capacity  for  work 
seems  as  limitless  as  his  energy  is  indomitable.  As  a  teacher  he  is  clear, 
painstaking  and  successful.  His  intellectual  powers  are  of  the  highest  order, 
his  mind  being  medico-judicial  and  profoundly  analytical."  Dr.  Lyman  says 
that  he  is  "a  pioneer  physician  of  Chicago ;  an  early  associate  of  Rush  Medi- 
cal ;  a  great  worker ;  close  observer  and  describer ;  exceedingly  industrious, 
and  the  founder  of  the  Northwestern  University.  Medical  School." 

At  the  time  of  Dr.  Davis's  coming,  Chicago  could  not  boast  more  than 
23,000  inhabitants,  and  the  city  was  far  from  being  healthy,  owing  to  its  situ- 
ation on  a  low  prairie,  with  no  sewerage  and  only  a  very  limited  supply  of 
water  other  than  that  obtained  from  wells,  which  were  apt  to  be  more  or  less 
contaminated.  He  at  once  comprehended  the  need  of  sanitary  reforms  and  a 
permanent  general  hospital,  and  set  himself  to  work  to  secure  both  ends ;  and 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  5 

from  that  time  to  the  present  he  has  been  actively  identified  with  every 
important  educational,  scientific  and  sanitary  interest  in  Chicago.  In  1850  he 
delivered  a  course  of  six  public  lectures,  before  large  audiences,  in  which  he 
urged  the  immediate  need  for  a  supply  of  purer  water  from  the  bosom  of  the 
lake,  and  of  a  system  of  conduits  for  the  removal  of  the  city's  sewage.  In 
addition,  he  convincingly  demonstrated  the  feasibility  of  both  projects.  A 
small  admission  fee  to  these  lectures  was  charged,  and  with  the  proceeds  was 
established  a  small  hospital,  with  twelve  beds,  out  of  which  has  grown  Mercy 
Hospital,  with  its  accommodation  for  three  hundred  and  fifty  patients  and  its 
ample  facilities  for  clinical  instruction.  For  nearly  forty  years  Dr.  Davis  was 
the  senior  member  of  the  attending  staff  of  this  institution,  his  connection 
therewith  continuing  until  1890.  Meanwhile,  he  was  transferred  from  his 
original  Chair  at  Rush  College  to  that  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine and  Clinical  Medicine,  which  he  filled  until  the  spring  of  1859,  bringing 
to  his  newly  assigned  duties  rare  ability,  consummate  learning  and  conscien- 
tious fidelity. 

He  did  not,  however,  for  a  moment,  lose  sight  of  his  interest  in  the 
advancement  of  the  standard  of  professional  education,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  his  own  college  prescribed  only  two  yearly  terms  of  four  months 
each  as  essential  for  a  diploma.  In  1859  an  opportunity  was  afforded  him  to 
"show  his  faith  by  his  works."  In  that  year  the  Chicago  Medical  College  was 
founded,  with  requirements  for  admission  and  graduation  somewhat  along  the 
lines  which  he  had  been  advocating  for  years.  A  moderate  amount  of  pre- 
liminary education  was  required  for  matriculation,  three  annual  courses  of  six 
months  each  were  prescribed,  and  a  curriculum  graded  to  correspond,  as  well 
as  regular  attendance  on  hospital  clinics.  He  was  offered  a  chair  correspond- 
ing to  that  which  he  held  at  Rush,  and  at  once  determined  to  lend  his  aid  to  the 
new  institution,  even  at  the  cost  of  not  a  little  personal  sacrifice.  The  first 
term  of  the  infant  institution — now  the  Medical  Department  of  the  North- 
western University — began  in  the  fall  of  1859.  Only  thirty  students  were 
enrolled,  but  its  growth  has  been  steady,  and  to-day  it  stands  in  the  front  rank 
of  American  medical  colleges.  For  more  than  forty  years  Dr.  Davis  was  con- 
nected with  its  Faculty,  more  recently  as  Dean  and  Emeritus  Professor  of 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine. 

Dr.  Davis  has  been  a  prominent  and  active  member  in  many  medical 
societies  and  associations.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Illinois  State 
Medical  Society,  of  which  he  was  elected  President  in  1855,  and  served  as 
Secretary  for  twelve  consecutive  years.  He  also  aided  in  founding  the  Chi- 
cago Medical  Society,  and  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  its  welfare.  Of  the 
American  Medical  Association  he  has  ever  been  one  of  the  main  supports,  and 
to  its  proceedings  he  has  contributed  numerous  papers  of  unexcelled  interest 


6  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

and  value.  No  member  has  ever  had  a  clearer  perception  of  the  true  purpose 
and  proper  scope  of  the  association  than  he,  and  in  1897  he  prepared  a  brief 
history  of  its  origin  and  progress,  which  was  read  at  the  meeting  of  that  year, 
and  published  in  pamphlet  form.  When,  in  1883,  it  was  decided  to  publish  the 
transactions  of  the  association  in  the  form  of  a  weekly  journal  instead  of  an 
annual  volume,  he  was  selected  to  edit  the  same,  and  for  six  years  he  dis- 
charged the  laborious  duties  of  this  position  with  singular  fidelity,  and  with 
such  success  that  when  he  retired  therefrom,  in  1889,  the  Journal  of  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association  was  established  on  a  solid  financial  basis.  He  took 
an  active  part  in  arranging  the  preliminaries  for  the  International  Medical 
Congress  held  at  Washington,  in  August,  1887,  and  was  first  chosen  Secre- 
tary General  of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  subsequently  succeeded  the  late 
Dr.  Austin  Flint,  of  New  York,  as  President.  While  engaged  in  his  duties 
as  Secretary,  and  arranging  for  the  meeting  of  the  Congress,  while  at  the 
same  time  neglecting  neither  his  private  practice,  his  college  and  hospital 
duties,  nor  his  editorial  work,  he  was  attacked  by  complete  hemiplegia  of  the 
right  half  of  the  body  and  extremities,  although  the  paralysis  proved  only  tem- 
porary. 

As  a  general  practitioner,  Dr.  Davis  has  been  an  unwearied  worker,  and 
his  success  at  times  has  been  little  less  than  marvelous.  He  passed  through  the 
cholera  epidemics  of  1849,  I&52>  1854  and  1866  with  unremitting  zeal  in  his 
efforts  to  alleviate  suffering  and  effect  cures.  At  the  bedside  of  a  patient  his 
tender  touch,  his  pleasant  smile  and  kindly  voice  both  invite  and  inspire  confi- 
dence. Nor  has  he  ever  failed  to  respond  to  the  call  of  the  sick  poor,  and  thou- 
sands of  Chicago's  needy  ones  can  testify  to  the  generosity  which  neither 
asked  nor  expected  reward.  As  a  man,  he  is  genial  and  courteous.  As  an 
instructor,  enthusiastic,  painstaking  and  interesting.  As  a  reasoner,  he  is  clear 
and  convincing,  his  comparisons  quick,  and  his  judgment  well-nigh  unerring. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  since  his  sixteenth  year,  and 
has  always  consistently  exemplified  the  religion  which  he  professed,  and  at  the 
same  time  been  keenly  alive  to  the  duties  of  a  public-spirited  citizen.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Northwestern  University,  of  the  Chicago  Academy 
of  Sciences,  the  Chicago  Historical  Society,  the  Illinois  State  Microscopical 
Society,  the  Union  College  of  Law — in  which  he  for  a  time  filled  the  Chair 
of  Medical  Jurisprudence — and  the  Washingtonian  Home.  In  the  cause  of 
temperance  he  has  ever  taken  a  lively  interest,  discouraging  the  use  of  alco- 
holic stimulants  in  professional  practice,  and  being  a  valued  contributor  to  the 
American  Medical  Temperance  Quarterly.  His  benefactions  to  both  public 
and  private  charity  are  large,  and  he  has  taken  active  part  in  promoting  the 
organization  of  systematic  relief  for  the  destitute. 

As  a  writer  the  Doctor  has  been  not  only  prolific,  but  clear  and  facile  as 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  7 

well.  Within  the  first  year  after  his  graduation  he  became  a  contributor  to 
medical  journals  and  in  1848  assumed  editorial  management  of  the  Annalist, 
a  semi-monthly  publication.  The  number  of  valuable  papers,  reports  and 
addresses  communicated  to  medical  societies  and  periodicals  has  been  exceed- 
ingly large,  and  in  addition  thereto  he  is  the  author  of  the  following  publi- 
cations in  book  form :  "A  Text-Book  on  Agricultural  Chemistry,  for  Use  in 
District  and  Public  Schools,"  for  which  a  prize  was  awarded  by  the  State 
Agricultural  Society  of  New  York,  1848;  "History  of  Medical  Education  and 
Institutions  in  the  United  States,  from  the  First  Settlement  of  the  British 
Provinces  to  the  Year  1850,  with  a  Chapter  on  the  Present  Condition  and 
Wants  of  the  Profession,  and  the  Means  Necessary  for  Supplying  those 
Wants,"  1851 ;  "A  Lecture  on  the  Effects  of  Alcoholic  Drinks  on  the  Human 
System,  and  the  Duties  of  Medical  Men  in  Relation  thereto,"  delivered  in  the 
Rush  Medical  College,  December  25,  1854,  with  ah  appendix  containing  orig- 
inal experiments  in  relation  to  the  effects  of  alcohol  on  respiration  and  animal 
heat;  "History  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  from  its  Organization 
to  the  Year  1855;"  "Clinical  Lectures  on  Various  Important  Diseases,"  1875; 
"Lectures  on  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine,"  delivered  in  the  Chi- 
cago Medical  College,  1884,  second  edition,  1887;  "Address  on  the  Progress 
of  Medical  Education  in  the  United  States  of  America,  During  the  Century 
Ending  in  1876,"  delivered  before  the  International  Medical  Congress,  at 
Philadelphia,  September  9,  1876,  published  in  the  volume  of  transactions  of 
that  congress;  the  chapter  on  "Bronchitis"  in  the  American  System  of  Medi- 
cine, edited  by  W.  Pepper,  Philadelphia;  the  chapters  on  "Chronic  Alcohol- 
ism, Polyuria  and  Chronic  Articular  Rheumatism"  in  the  Reference  Hand- 
Book  of  Medical  Sciences,  New  York,  William  Wood  &  Co.,  1886;  and  the 
"Address  of  the  President  of  the  Ninth  International  Medical  Congress," 
delivered  before  the  Congress  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  August,  1887,  published 
in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of  the  Congress,  1887. 

Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot  writes:  "Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  has  been  a  lifelong 
friend  to  the  science  of  dentistry.  Believing  that  dental  science  is  an  insep- 
arable part  of  the  healing  art,  he  has  urged  for  decades  that  it  be  taught  in 
medical  colleges  like  other  medical  specialties.  In  July,  1865,  at  an  entertain- 
ment given  by  him  to  the  members  of  the  American  Dental  Association,  he 
responded  to  the  sentiment  'To  the  President  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, Medicine,  Surgery,  and  Dentistry,  Departments  of  a  Common 
Science.  Their  principles  should  constitute  a  Common  Brotherhood.'  Upon 
that  occasion  he  said,  'Medicine,  Surgery  and  Dentistry  are  actually  Depart- 
ments of  a  Common  Science.  They  are  all  based  upon  chemistry,  anatomy, 
physiology,  pathology  and  materia  medica.  Without  chemistry  and  anatomy 
no  one  of  you,  as  dentists,  can  know  either  the  composition  or  structure  of  a 


8  A    GROUP    OF   DISTINGUISHED 

single  tooth,  or  its  connections  with  the  jaws,  gums,  blood  vessels,  nerves,  etc. 
Without  physiology  no  one  could  know  the  natural  uses  and  influences  of  the 
several  parts  just  named  or  the  relations  of  the  teeth  to  the  whole  process  of 
digestion,  assimilation  and  nutrition.  As  pathology  bears  the  same  relation 
to  organized  structures  in  an  imperfect  .or  diseased  condition  as  physiology 
does  to  them  in  the  natural,  so  without  a  knowledge  of  it,  neither  the  physi- 
cian, surgeon  nor  dentist  could  know  anything  of  the  origin,  nature  and  ten- 
dencies of  the  diseases  and  defects  he  professes  to  treat.  The  materia  medica, 
in  its  full  scope,  includes  everything  that  can  be  made  useful  in  the  mitigation 
or  removal  of  any  of  the  ills  to  which  our  race  is  liable.' 

"In  1881,  at  a  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  a  resolution 
offered  by  the  late  Dr.  Samuel  D.  Gross,  that  'a  Section  of  Dental  and  Oral 
Surgery  be  created  on  the  same  footing  as  all  other  sections  of  that  body,' 
and  seconded  by  Dr.  Davis,  was  carried.  Dental  and  Oral  Surgery  were  thus 
professionally  recognized  as  a  department  of  medicine.  Six  years  later,  under 
a  belief  that  there  were  able  men  practicing  dentistry  who,  though  not  medical 
graduates,  were  yet  entitled  to  recognition,  and  in  order  to  unite  still  more 
intimately  dentistry  with  other  departments  of  medicine  and  surgery,  Dr. 
Davis  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  in  Chicago, 
1887,  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was  adopted  by  nearly  a  unani- 
mous vote,  'Resolved,  That  the  regular  graduates  of  such  Dental  Schools  and 
Colleges  as  require  of  their  students  a  standard  of  preliminary  or  general  edu- 
cation and  a  term  of  professional  study  equal  to  the  best  class  of  the  medical 
colleges  of  this  country,  and  embrace  in  their  curriculum  all  the  fundamental 
branches  of  medicine,  differing  chiefly  by  substituting  practical  and  clinical 
instruction  in  dental  and  oral  medicine  and  surgery  in  place  of  clinical  instruc- 
tion in  general  medicine  and  surgery,  be  recognized  as  members  of  the  regular 
profession  of  medicine,  and  eligible  to  membership  in  the  Association  on  the 
same  conditions  and  subject  to  the  same  regulations  as  all  other  members.' 

"In  a  paper  read  before  the  Section  of  Stomatology  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  held  in  Atlantic  City,  June  5-8,  1900,  Dr.  Davis  has  said, 
'obviously  there  is  no  more  propriety  in  having  a  separate  profession  of  dentis- 
try than  there  is  of  ophthalmology  or,  neurology  or  gynecology.  The  same 
standard  of  preliminary  education,  and  the  same  curriculum  of  medical  studies 
covering  the  four,  years'  course,  should  be  required  of  all  who  propose  to  prac- 
tice in  any  of  the  departments  or  specialties  of  medicine  and  surgery.  All 
should  be  required  to  pass  the  same  examining  boards,  be  designated  by  the 
same  title,  M.  D.,  and  be  governed  by  the  same  rules,  both  ethical  and  legal. 
Let  there  be  in  every  medical  college  faculty  a  Professor  of  Dental  and  Oral 
Pathology  and  Practice  on  the  same  basis  that  you  have  a  Professor  of 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  9 

Ophthalmology,  Neurology  or  Gynecology.  The  instruction  by  an  efficient 
occupant  of  such  a  Chair  is  needed  as  an  important  aid  to  every  practitioner  of 
medicine,  whether  his  field  of  practice  is  in  the  city  or  the  country.  For  if  he 
never  attempts  to  treat  a  defective  tooth  or  a  diseased  gum,  he  should  be  able 
to  recognize  the  existence  of  such  condition  and  promptly  direct  the  sufferers 
to  those  who  would  treat  them.' 

"The  admitted  advance  in  the  professional  status  of  American  Dentistry 
during  the  past  three  decades  has  undoubtedly  been  largely  due  to  the  unselfish 
zeal  of  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  for  the  best  interests  of  all  departments  of  medicine." 

Dr.  Daniel  R.  Brower  writes :  "One  of  the  most  remarkable  men  the 
country  has  produced,  and  in  addition  to  his  great  scientific  attainments,  his 
clear  judgment  of  things,  has  been  wonderfully  gifted  in  language.  I  could 
regard  him  as  a  good  orator  as  well  as  a  great  physician." 

Dr.  Christian  Fenger  wrote:  "Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  is  the  father  of 
medical  organization  in  this  country  and  is  the  founder  of  the  American 
Medical  Association.  He  has  always  been  the  champion  of  higher  medical 
education.  His  fixedness  of  purpose  and  unswerving  devotion  to  high  princi- 
ple have  made  him  the  most  honored  member  of  the  medical  profession  of  this 
country." 

Dr.  Frank  Billings  wrote :  "Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  is  a  man  of  wonderful 
native  ability,  whose  indefatigable,  painstaking,  untiring  energy  in  the  study 
and  practice  of  medicine,  and  the  practice  and  the  example  of  a  virtuous, 
moral,  upright  life,  place  him  far  above  his  fellows — a  leader  of  leaders  of 
men.  Full  of  years  and  fuller  of  honors  worthily  earned,  he  affords  an  exam- 
ple which  all  should  imitate,  though  few  if  any  will  attain  the  heights  he  so 
modestly  occupies." 

Dr.  W.  F.  Waugh  writes  :  "No  Chicago  physician  is  more  widely  known, 
more  highly  respected,  than  the  venerable  father  of ,  the  American  Medical 
Association,  and  of  Chicago  medicine,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis.  His  strong  advo- 
cacy of  temperance,  in  a  section  of  the  country  where  temperance  truths  have 
not  preponderated  in  the  last  half  century,  shows  his  fearless  independence  and 
strong  sense  of  right." 

Dr.  John  Ridlon  writes :  "For  half  a  century  the  most  notable  figure  in 
Western  medicine.  A  man  of  untiring  energy  and  of  inflexible  will.  A 
leader  of  great  men;  a  ruler  of  little  men.  The  most  learned  physician  in 
America.  A  man  of  childlike  simplicity,  with  a  mind  open  to  scientific  truth 
from  any  source,  no  matter  how  humble." 


io  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

WILLIAM  HEATH  BYFORD,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

The  death  of  Dr.  William  H.  Byford,  which  occurred  at  Chicago  on  May 
21,  1890,  was  not  only  a  profound  affliction  to  his  family  and  his  circle  of 
immediate  friends,  but  also  a  positive  loss  to  the  cause  of  medical  education; 
while  at  the  same  time  marking  the  removal  from  active  practice  of  an  eminent 
surgeon  and  the  termination  of  one  of  the  most  successful  courses  in  scientific 
surgery  that  has  illustrated  the  present  era  of  progress. 

Dr.  Byford  was  born  at  Eaton,  Ohio,  March  20,  1817.  His  ancestors 
came  to  America  from  Suffolk,  England,  and  the  only  patrimony  which  he  in- 
herited consisted  of  the  physical  vigor  and  the  tenacity  of  purpose  characteristic 
of  the  race  from  which  he  sprang.  Not  long  after  his  birth  his  parents  removed 
to  New  Albany,  and  later  to  the  little  village  of  Hindostan,  Indiana.  There 
William  H.  attended  a  district  school,  but  the  death  of  his  father,  before  he 
had  reached  the  age  of  nine  years,  compelled  him  to  devote  his  time  and  ener- 
gies entirely  to  manual  labor,  in  order  that  from  his  scanty  earnings  he  might 
contribute  to  the  maintenance  of  his  widowed  mother  and  her  destitute  fam- 
ily. Four  years  after  his  father's  death  he  and  his  mother  went  to  live  upon 
her  father's  farm  in  Crawford  county,  Indiana,  but  here,  too,  the  boy  found 
labor  a  necessity.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  formed  the  purpose  of  learning 
the  blacksmith's  trade,  but  could  find  no  master  of  that  craft  willing  to  accept 
him  as  an  apprentice.  Baffled  in  this  direction,  he  turned  to  the  tailors,  with 
whom  he  was  more  successful.  One  whom  Dr.  Byford  himself  described  as 
"a  kind-hearted  Christian  gentleman  by  the  name  of  Davis"  took  him  into 
his  shop.  There  the  boy  remained  two  years,  completing  his  apprenticeship  at 
Vincennes,  where  he  served  four  years  longer. 

YoUng  Byford,  however,  was  conscious  of  a  capability  for  something 
higher  and  better  than  he  could  attain  through  this  humble  handicraft.  While 
serving  as  an  apprentice  he  borrowed  books  and  devoted  every  leisure  moment 
after  his  daily  toil  to  study.  Such  were  his  zeal,  industry  and  unremitting 
energy  that  he  thus  acquired  an  excellent  knowledge  of  English,  besides  mak- 
ing some  progress  in  the  rudiments  of  Latin,  Greek  and  French.  Chemistry, 
Physiology  and  Natural  History  later  engrossed  his  mental  efforts,  and  it  was 
probably  the  fascination  which  these  branches  of  study  possessed  for  him  that 
first  made  him  feel  his  God-prompted  vocation  for  the  medical  profession. 
He  resolved  to  become  a  physician,  and  Dr.  Joseph  Maddox,  of  Vincennes, 
received  him  into  his  office  as  a  student.  So  keen  was  his  intellect,  so  quick 
was  his  comprehension,  and  so  assiduous  his  application,  that  in  less  than  two 
years,  after  passing  an  examination  before  a  State  Board  of  Commissioners 
he  was  found  qualified  to  engage  in  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery, 
under  the  then  existing  law.  He  first  established  himself  professionally  at 


LIBRARY 

UNIVtRSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  n 

Owensville,  Indiana,  in  August,  1838.  Two  years  later  he  removed  to  Mount 
Vernon,  where  he  became  associated  with  Dr.  Hezekiah  Holland,  whose 
daughter,  Miss  Mary  Ann,  he  married  in  1840. 

After  his  ten  years'  residence  at  Mount  Vernon,  Dr.  Byford  attended  a 
course  of  lectures  at  the  Ohio  Medical  College,  and  was  graduated  from  that 
institution  in  1845.  1°  I&47  ne  performed  two  Cfesarean  operations,  and, 
while  it  does  not  appear  that  either  of  them  was  absolutely  successful,  yet  the 
excellent  account  of  them  which  he  published,  and  which  was  followed  by 
other  contributions  to  medical  journals,  at  once  attracted  the  general  attention 
of  the  profession  and  gained  for  him  an  enviable  reputation.  In  October, 
1850,  he  was  chosen  to  the  Professorship  of  Anatomy  at  the  Evansville  (Indi- 
ana) Medical  College,  and  accordingly  removed  to  that  city.  Two  years  later 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Chair  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine,  which 
he  filled  until  the  college  became  extinct,  in  1854,  during  a  portion  of  the 
time  aiding  in  editing  a  medical  journal  published  at  Evansville,  known  as  the 
Indiana  Medical  Journal.  In  1854  he  became  a  member  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  and  was  made  a  special  committee  on  Scrofula.  On  this 
subject  he  prepared  an  elaborate  and  valuable  report,  which  commanded  wide- 
spread attention  and  greatly  added  to  his  constantly  growing  reputation.  In 
May,  1857,  he  was  Vice-President  of  the  association.  In  the  autumn  of  that 
year  he  accepted  the  Professorship  of  Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Women  and 
Children  at  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  and  removed  with  his  family  to 
that  city.  For  two  years  he  discharged  the  duties  of  this  position  with  distin- 
guished ability,  but  resigned  in  1859  to  accept  the  same  chair  in  the  Chicago 
Medical  College,  of  which  institution — then  in  its  infancy — he  was  one  of  the 
founders.  His  motives  in  taking  this  step  were  of  a  character  which  reflected 
high  honor  on  his  professional  zeal  and  foresight,  and  wholly  unselfish.  He 
was  anxious  for  the  establishment  of  a  medical  college  which  should  insist 
upon  enlarged  annual  courses,  afford  a  more  systematic  and  better  graded  cur- 
riculum, and  which  should  require  better  preliminary  preparation  on  the  part 
of  matriculants.  For  twenty  years  he  filled  his  chair  at  the  Chicago  Medical 
College,  witnessing  not  only  its  growth  but  also  seeing  the  gradual  adoption 
of  the  principles  which  he  had  so  earnestly  and  so  ably  advocated.  In  1879 
he  was  recalled  to  Rush  Medical  College,  to  occupy  the  Chair  of  Gynecology, 
which  had  been  especially  created  for  him. 

As  an  instructor — alike  in  the  lectures  and  class  rooms — Dr.  Byford  was 
at  once  perspicuous  yet  profound,  going  down  into  the  very  depths  of  scientific 
research,  yet  always  simple  in  his  enunciation  of  the  most  recondite  truths. 
His  clinics  were  always  crowded  with  students  and  practitioners,  and  the 
utmost  attention  was  always  paid  to  his  slightest  word.  In  the  medical  educa- 
tion of  women  he  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  West.  He  was  one  of  the 


12  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

founders  of  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Chicago,  aiding  its  formation  by 
giving  freely  of  his  time,  his  influence  and  his  wealth.  The  institution  was 
organized  in  1870  and  Dr.  By  ford  became  president  of  the  Faculty,  as  well  as 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  both  of  which  positions  he  held  until  his  death. 
Indeed,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  success  of  that  institution  was  not 
dearer  to  him  than  that  of  any  other  undertaking  of  his  life.  The  success  of 
the  Woman's  Hospital  is  also  largely  attributed  to  his  tireless  and  unflagging 
zeal.  Himself  one  of  the  eminent  gynecologists  of  the  century,  he  was  anx- 
ious that  the  knowledge  of  this  important  specialty  in  medical  practice  should 
spread  among  his  professional  brethren.  In  1876  he  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  American  Obstetrical  and  Gynecological  Society.  He  was  at  one  time 
its  Vice-President  and  later  its  President,  continuing  in  active  membership 
until  he  died.  He  was  also  a  prime  mover  in  the  organization  of  the  Chicago 
Gynecological  Society  and  a  life  member  of  the  British  Gynecological 
Society.  There  are  many  measures  in  practice  with  which  his  name  is  inti- 
mately connected;  for  example,  the  use  of  ergot  in  fibroid  tumors  of  the 
uterus;  drainage  per  rectum  abscesses  that  have  previously  discharged  into 
that  viscus;  abdominal  section  for  ruptured  extra-uterine  pregnancy,  pro- 
posed before  the  days  of  Tait ;  and  the  systematic  use  of  the  slippery  elm  tent. 
He  was  the  first  in  this  country  to  advocate  stitching  the  open  sac  to  the 
abdominal  wound  after  enucleation  of  cysts  of  the  broad  ligament. 

As  a  practitioner  Dr.  Byford  was  singularly  successful.  He  was  in  gen- 
eral practice  for,  twenty-two  years  before  he  made  gynecology  his .  specialty. 
He  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  that  subtle  faculty  sometimes  called  per- 
sonal magnetism,  which  was  never,  more  clearly  manifested  than  by  the  readi- 
ness with  which  children  responded  to  his  constant  and  always  friendly  notice. 
As  a  consultant  he  was  unfailing  in  courtesy  and  scrupulously  honorable 
toward  his  confreres.  As  a  companion  he  was  genial,  yet  never  unmindful 
of  proper  limitations.  As  a  friend  he  was  sympathetic,  generous  and  true. 
His  domestic  life  was  one  of  ideal  happiness.  Reference  has  been  already 
made  to  his  marriage  to  the  daughter  of  his  professional  partner  at  Mount 
Vernon — Miss  Mary  Ann  Holland.  Mrs.  Byford,  who  died  in  1865,  was 
noted  alike  for  her  earnest  Christian  character  and  her  many  domestic  virtues. 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Byford  had  the  following  named  children :  W.  H.  Byford,  Jr., 
M.  D.,  deceased ;  Dr.  Henry  T.  Byford,  an  eminent  gynecologist  of  Chicago ; 
Mrs.  Anna  Byford  Leonard;  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Schuyler;  and  Mrs.  Maud  B. 
VanSchaack.  In  1873  the  Doctor  married  Miss  Lina  W.  Flershem,  of  Buf- 
falo. The  only  child  of  the  second  union  died  in  infancy. 

Dr.  Byford  was  a  devout  Christian,  alike  in  professed  faith  and  in  daily 
life.  His  death  was  not  preceded  by  any  lingering,  painful  illness.  Although 
for  three  years  he  had  been  conscious  of  symptoms  of  heart  disease,  he  contin- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  13. 

ued  in  active  practice,  and  not  until  the  last  hours  of  his  life  was  there  any 
impairment  of  his  mental  faculties.  Four  days  before  his  death  he  performed 
abdominal  section  for  the  removal  of  the  appendages  on  account  of  fibroid 
tumor  of  the  uterus,  and  on  the  day  preceding  his  death  he  attended  to  his 
customary  professional  duties.  His  demise  was  sudden.  Early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  May  21,  1890,  he  succumbed  to  an  attack  of  angina  pectoris.  An  ano- 
dyne was  administered  by  a  neighboring  physician,  and  Dr.  Henry  T.  Byfqrd 
was  hastily  summoned.  Before  the  son  could  reach  his  father's  bedside, 
however,  the  latter  was  unconscious,  and  at  2  A.  M.  he  entered  into  eternal 
rest. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  paid  the  following  eulogy  to  this  distinguished 
member  of  the  profession :  "The  late  William  Heath  Byford  of  Chicago  is 
the  best  example  of  a  literally  self-educated  man,  who  attained  a  deservedly 
high  reputation  as  a  medical  practitioner,  teacher  and  writer,  as  well  as  a  man 
of  honor,  integrity  and  of  humanity,  with  whom  I  have  been  acquainted.  He 
spent  nearly  all  the  years  usually  allotted  to  school  education  in  diligent  labor 
to  aid  in  supporting  a  widowed  mother  and  family.  From  his  ninth  to  his 
twenty-first  year  of  age  he  was  thus  employed.  Yet  through  it  all  he  managed 
to  obtain  the  necessary  books,  and  perseveringly  devoted  his  evenings,  odd 
hours,  and  rainy  days  to  their  study.  Thereby  he  came  to  legal  age  with  a  bet- 
ter practical  education,  including  both  Greek  and  Latin,  than  is  possessed  by 
many  of  the  graduates  of  our  High  Schools.  Then  he  studied  medicine,  and 
entering  upon  practice  he  advanced  step  by  step  until  he  reached  an  honor- 
able position  among  the  most  highly  honored  of  his  profession.  He  was  a 
persevering  supporter  of  whatever  tended  to  the  elevation  of  medical  educa- 
tion and  the  practical  usefulness  of  the  profession.  The  prominent 
traits  of  his  character  were  simplicity  and  kindness,  clearness  of  perception 
and  practical  application,  with  an  unyielding  perseverance  in  the  pursuit  of 
whatever  he  deemed  attainable  and  right." 

Comparatively  little  has  been  said,  in  the  preceding  paragraphs,  in  refer- 
ence to  Dr.  Byford  as  an  author.  His  principal  editorial  work  was  done  as 
associate  editor  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Journal  (with  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis)  and 
as  editor-in-chief  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  which  was 
a  combination  of  the  Journal  and  the  Examiner,  and  was  published  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Press  Association.  For  a  time  he  also  edited 
the  Northwestern  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal.  His  contributions  to  current 
medical  literature  were  frequent  (his  favorite  subject  being  Gynecology)  and 
were  always  well  received.  He  was  a  prolific  writer,  yet  he  never  lapsed  into 
weakness,  nor,  did  he  ever  become  uninteresting  or  tautological.  Indeed,  with 
a  mind  like  his — at  once  analytic  and  synthetic — his  works  could  not  fail  to 
command  attention.  A  list  of  Dr.  William  H.  Byford's  articles  and  works  is 
appended : 


i4  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

"Csesarean  Section,"  1847;  "Treatment  of  Continued  or  Typhoid 
Fever,"  American  Journal  of  Medical  Science,  1851;  "Milk  Sickness"; 
Report  Committee  on  Scrofula,  Transactions,  American  Medical  Association, 
1855;  "Physiology,  Pathology  and  Therapeutics  of  Muscular  Exercise,"  Chi- 
cago, J.  Barnet,  1858;  "A  case  of  Pelvic  Abscess,"  Transactions,  Illinois  State 
Medical  Society,  1859;  "Successful  Ovariotomy,"  Chicago  Medical  Exam- 
iner, 1860;  "Ovarian  Tumors.  Is  Ovariotomy  a  Justifiable  Operation?" 
Ibid.,  1861 ;  "Two  Successful  Cases  of  Ovariotomy,"  Ibid.,  1863;  "Removal 
of  Multilocular  Tumor  Weighing  Thirty  Pounds,"  Ibid.,  1863 ;  "A  Treatise 
on  the  Chronic  Inflammation  and  Displacements  of  the  Unimpregnate 
Uterus,"  Philadelphia,  Lindsay  &  Blakiston,  1864;  "The  Practice  of  Medicine 
and  Surgery  Applied  to  the  Diseases  and  Accidents  Incident  to  Women," 
Philadelphia,  Lindsay  &  Blakiston,  1865;  "The  Philosophy  of  Domestic  Life," 
Boston,  Lee  &  Shepard,  1869;  "A  Treatise  on  the  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Obstetrics,"  New  York,  William  Wood  &  Co.,  1870;  "An  Address  Introduc- 
tory to  the  Course  of  Instruction  in  the  Woman's  Hospital  Medical  College, 
Session  of  1870-71,"  Chicago,  R.  Fergus'  Sons;  "The  Address  in  Obstetrics 
and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children,"  Transactions,  American  Medical 
Association,  1875;  "Treatment  of  Uterine  Fibroids  by  Ergot,"  Ibid.,  1875-, 
"The  Causes  and  Treatment  of  Non-puerperal  Hemorrhages  of  the  Womb," 
Transactions,  International  Medical  Congress,  Philadelphia,  1876;  "The 
Spontaneous  and  Artificial  Destruction  and  Expulsion  of  Fibrous  Tumors  of 
the  Uterus,"  Transactions,  American  Gynecological  Society,  1876;  "The  Sec- 
ond Decade  of  Life,"  annual  address  before  the  Tri-State  Medical  Society, 
1877 ;  "Dermoid  Ovarian  Tumors,"  Transactions,  American  Gynecological 
Society,  1879;  "A  Case  of  Double  Operation  of  Ovariotomy  and  Hyster- 
otomy,  with  Remarks,"  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  1879;  "On  Puerperal 
Vaginitis  and  Laceration  as  Causes  of  Vesico-vaginal  Fistula,"  Chicago  Med- 
ical Journal  and  Examiner,  1879;  "Ergot  in  the  Treatment  of  Fibroid 
Tumors  of  the  Uterus,"  Ibid.,  1879;  "Chronic  Inversion  of  the  Uterus," 
Transactions,  American  Gynecological  Society,  1879;  "Fibrous  Tumors  of  the 
Uterus,"  American  Clinical  Lecture,  New  York,  1879;  "Displacement  of  the 
Ovaries,"  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  1880;  "On  the  Diagnosis  of 
Ovarian  Tumor,"  Ibid.,  1880;  "The  Successufl  Extirpation  of  an  Encepha- 
loid  Kidney,"  Transactions,  American  Gynecological  Society,  1880;  "Pelvic 
Abscess," Peoria  Medical  Monthly,  1880-81 ;  "The  History  of  Gynecology  in 
Chicago,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  1881 ;  "Annual  Address 
of  the  President,"  Transactions,  American  Gynecological  Society,  1881; 
"Remarks  on  Chronic  Abscess  of  the  Pelvis,"  Ibid.,  1883 ;  "Remarks  on  Intra- 
pelvic  Inflammation  in  the  Chronic  Form,"/o;<rwa/  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, Chicago,  1883;  "Doctorate  Address,  delivered  at  the  Commencement  of 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URCANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  15 

the  Woman's  Medical  College,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner, 
1884;  "Remarks  on  the  Surgical  Treatment  of  the  Malignant  Diseases  of  the 
Uterus,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1884;  "A  Case  of  Mural 
Pregnancy,"  American  Journal  Obstetrics,  1885;  "Extra  Uterine  Preg- 
nancy," Reference  Handbook  of  Medical  Sciences,  1885;  "Carcinoma  or  Can- 
cer of  the  Uterus,"  Pepper's  System  of  Practical  Medicine,  Philadelphia, 
1886;  "Fibrous  Tumors  of  the  Uterus,"  Ibid.;  "Fatty  Tumor  of  the  Supra- 
renal Capsule,"  Obstetric  Gazette,  Cincinnati,  1889;  "Cysto-fibro-myoma  of 
the  Uterus,"  Ibid.,  1889;  "Ovarian  Pregnancy,"  Ibid.,  1889;  "Inflammation  of 
the  Ovaries,"  Virginia  Medical  Monthly,  Richmond,  1889-90. 


NICHOLAS  SENN,  M.  D. 

Nicholas  Senn,  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Canton  St.  Gaul,  Switzerland, 
October  31,  1844.  He  came  to  this  country  with  his  parents  in  1852,  settled 
in  Wayne  township,  Washington  county,  Wisconsin,  and  received  a  grammar 
school  education  at  Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin.  After  teaching  school  for  two 
years  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  E.  Munk,  of  the  latter  city,  in 
1864.  He  studied  also  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College  in  1866,  and  grad- 
uated in  the  spring  of  1868.  After  serving  fdr  eighteen  months  as  Resident 
Physician  to  Cook  County  Hospital,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Ashford,  Wisconsin.  In  1869  Dr.  Senn  married  Miss  Aurelia  S.  Muehl- 
hauser.  He  removed  to  Milwaukee  in  1874,  and  became  Attending  Physician 
to  the  Milwaukee  Hospital.  In  1877  he  visited  Europe  and  attended  the 
University  of  Munich,  Germany,  and  was  graduated  at  that  institution  in 
1878.  After  his  return  to  this  country  he  continued  his  practice  in  Milwaukee. 
In  1880  he  was  made  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  Chicago,  although  retaining  his  residence  in  Milwaukee.  In 
1891  he  was  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Practice  of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery 
in  Rush  Medical  College,  which  he  accepted,  taking  up  his  residence  in  Chi- 
cago. Dr.  Senn  has  been  president  of  the  American  Medical  Association  and 
the  American  Surgical  Society,  was  the  founder  of  the  Association  of  Mili- 
tary Surgeons  of  the  United  States,  and  is  a  member  or  honorary  member  of 
numerous  other  local,  national  and  foreign  organizations. 

Dr.  Senn  first  gained  his  reputation  from  experimental  operations  on  the 
gastro-intestinal  tract  of  dogs.  He  introduced  the  decalcified  bone  plate  for 
intestinal  anastomosis.  This  method  gave  a  great  impetus  to  the  progress  of 
intestinal  surgery.  Later  he  introduced  hydrogen  gas  to  test  the  permeability 
of  the  intestinal  tract  after  gunshot  injuries  of  the  abdomen.  His  methods  of 


16  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

investigation  proved  more  valuable  to  the  profession  than  the  data  discovered. 
His  experimental  labors  and  skilled  intestinal  surgery  have  gained  for  him  a 
world-wide  reputation.  More  recently  he  gave  to  the  profession  the  bone 
ferrule  and  bone  rod  which  is  placed  in  the  marrow  cavity  of  the  bone  to  pro- 
duce fixation  of  the  fractured  ends. 

Soon  after  the  inauguration  of  Governor  Altgeld  Dr.  Senn  was  appointed 
Surgeon  General  of  the  National  Guard  of  Illinois.    He  is  also  president  of  the 
Association  of  Military  Surgeons  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  United  States, 
and  from  his  address  to  this  organization,  delivered  at  its  meeting  at  St. 
Louis,  in  April,  1892,  we  here  publish  the  following  extracts:     "Every  good 
citizen  takes  a  just  pride  and  deep  interest  in  the  safety  and  prosperity  of  his 
country.     His  patriotism  should  bear  a  direct  ratio  to  the  degree  of  freedom 
and  protection  he  enjoys  and  the  richness  of  the  natural  resources  within  his 
reach.     If  freedom,  protection  and  prosperity  are  the  elements  which  are  pro- 
ductive of  patriotism,  every  citizen  of  the  United  States  is,  or  should  be, 
imbued  with  love  and  gratitude  for  his  country,  and  ready  to  defend  it  in  time 
of  danger.    It  is  a  great  privilege  to  be  a  citizen  of  the  greatest  country  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  and  to  belong  to  the  most  powerful  and  progressive  nation 
in  the  world.    Our  country  has  taken  a  place  in  the  front  rank  among  the  rul- 
ing nations.     Its  brief  history  is  an  unbroken  record  of  unparalleled  growth 
and  prosperity.    Its  inhabitants,  composed  of  the  best  elements  of  most  every 
civilized  nation,  have  made  good  use  of  the  wonderful  opportunities  presented, 
and  have  built  up  cities  and  industries  which  have  become  a  source  of  admira- 
tion and  envy  everywhere.    Since  the  War  of  Independence  and  foundation  of 
this  great  Republic,  a  little  more  than  a  century  ago,  we  have  become  the  lead- 
ing nation,  not  through  the  influence  of  a  large  standing  army,  but  by  develop- 
ing the  unlimited  resources  within  our  legitimate  reach,   aided  by  a  wise 
administration  of  the  laws  made  by  the  people  and  for  the  people.    During  this 
short  period  of  our  existence  as  a  nation  we  have  taken  an  enviable  position 
among  the  powers  of  the  world,  and  our  beautiful  flag,  the  star-spangled  ban- 
ner, is  respected  and  admired  wherever  it  is  unfolded.    The  Stars  and  Stripes 
are  everywhere  recognized  as  a  symbol  of  liberty  and  equality.     The  history 
of  the  War  of  Independence,  and  more  recently  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion, 
has  proved  to  the  outside  world  that  the  American  citizen  is  a  born  soldier. 
Within  a  few  months  during  the  late  conflict,  large  armies  faced  each  other  in 
deadly  combat,  and  on  each  side  a  heroism  was  displayed  never  excelled 
before.    Battles  were  fought  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen  before  or  since. 
The  endurance,  discipline  and  courage  of  our  citizen  soldiers  have  become  a 
matter  of  honorable  record,  and  have  never  been,  and  are  not  likely  to  be,  sur- 
passed by  any  standing  army.     Our  country  came  out  of  this  great  struggle 
greater  than  ever.     There  is  no  North  and  no  South.     The  'Gray  and  the 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  17 

Blue'  celebrate  their  war  experience  side  by  side,  and  relate  their  victories  and 
defeats  without  sectional  feeling.  The  star-spangled  banner  again  floats  over 
a  harmonious  and  peaceful  nation,  and  is  revered  and  loved  as  dearly  in  the 
South  as  in  the  North,  and  should  the  time  come  when  it  is  in  danger,  the 
whole  country  will  rise  in  its  defense.  What  a  happy  choice  our  forefathers 
made  when  they  selected  the  eagle  as  the  emblem  of  our  country!  Like  the 
king  of  the  skies,  that  knows  no  rival  in  his  sphere,  our  country  has  out- 
stripped the  Old  World  in  everything  that  pertains  to  the  welfare  of  its  people. 
The  mingling  of  many  nations  has  produced  a  race  peculiarly  well  adapted  for 
self-government.  Our  little  standing  army,  composed  of  less  than  25,000 
men,  scattered  in  small  detachments  over  a  vast  territory,  has  been  seldom 
called  into  active  service,  except  occasionally  to  subdue  a  hostile  band  of 
Indians  on  the  frontier.  Should  an  emergency  arise  necessitating  -military 
interference,  either  in  the  defense  of  our  borders  or  to  crush  anarchism,  our 
standing  army  would  be  too  small  to  answer  the  requirements.  Fortunately 
every  true  American  citizen  regards  himself  as  a  guardian  of  public  peace, 
ready  to  defend  his  rights  and  ever  ready  to  protect  the  country  of  his  birth 
or  adoption.  The  National  Guard  of  the  United  States,  numbering  about 
100,000  citizen  soldiers,  is  a  military  body  of  far-reaching  influence  and  great 
power.  It  is  composed  of  the  very  best  elements  of  society.  It  represents 
almost  every  profession,  trade  and  business  interest.  It  is  composed  of  men 
who,  under  all  circumstances,  are  loyal  to  their  general  and  respective  State 
governments.  It  constitutes  an  efficient  police  force  scattered  over  this  vast 
country  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the  British  possessions  to 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Should  it  become  necessary  to  call  out  the  whole  force, 
an  army  of  100,000  men,  well  equipped  and  well-drilled,  could  be  concentrated 
in  any  part  of  the  country,  ready  for  duty,  within  three  to  five  days.  The 
many  strikes  and  riots  which  have  menaced  the  peace  and  personal  and  public 
property  for  a  number  of  years  have  shown  the  necessity  of  an  efficient 
National  Guard.  Every  loyal  and  peace-loving  citizen  will  consider  it  a 
privilege  to  contribute  his  share  toward  securing  and  maintaining  such  a  force. 
Money  paid  out  of  the  State  Treasury  for  such  a  purpose  is  well  invested." 
Referring  to  the  means  of  elevating  the  standing  and  usefulness  of  military 
surgery,  Dr.  Senn  continues :  "We  live  in  an  age  of  organization  of  united 
effort  and  concentration  of  work.  The  unparalleled  advances  in  science,  art 
and  literature  that  have  characterized  the  last  decade  are  largely  due  to 
..systematic  united  work.  It  is  true  that  a  great  discovery  or  an  important  obser- 
vation comes  occasionally  like  a  flash  of  lightning  from  a  clear  sky,  the  product 
.pf  some  fertile  brain ;  but  the  greatest  advances,  requiring  thorough  scientific 
.investigation,  have  been  accomplished  by  the  concerted  action  of  many  laboring 
.with  the  same  object  in  view.  The  stimulus  imparted  by  the  work  and  success 

2 


i8  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

of  others  is  the  motive  which  impels  individual  effort,  and  comparison  of  the 
results  realized  becomes  either  a  source  of  gratification  or  acts  like  a  lash  that 
arouses  the  latent  forces  to  renewed  action.  In  our  country  nearly  every  pro- 
fession, trade  and  business  has  now  its  local  and  national  associations.  Less 
than  a  year  ago  about  fifty  surgeons  of  the  National  Guard,  representing 
fifteen  States,  met  in  the  city  of  Chicago  and  organized  the  Association  of 
Military  Surgeons  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  United  States.  All  present 
were  fully  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  such  an  association,  and  manifested 
a  keen  interest  in  its  organization.  To-day  we  have  opened  our  first  annual 
meeting  in  this  beautiful  city,  and  have  received  such  a  warm  welcome  on  the 
part  of  the  State,  the  city,  the  medical  profession  and  citizens  as  is  seldom  ex- 
tended to  a  scientific  body.  As  an  association  we  have  not  yet  reached  our  first 
birthday,  and  yet  we  have  attained  a  membership  of  over  two  hundred.  A  deep 
interest  in  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  our  organization  has  been  manifested 
outside  of  our  ranks  throughout  the  United  States.  The  newspapers  and 
medical  journals  have  treated  us  with  every  mark  of  courtesy,  and  have 
brought  our  good  work  to  the  attention  of  military  officers,  the  public  and  the 
medical  profession.  The  Government  has  encouraged  us  from  the  very  begin- 
ning by  detailing  for  our  benefit  a  number  of  the  oldest  and  most  experienced 
surgeons  to  attend  our  meetings.  Military  surgery  is  at  present  in  a  transi- 
tional stage.  Human  ingenuity  has  exerted  itself  to  the  utmost  during  the 
last  few  years  in  perfecting  cannon,  guns,  and  other  implements  of  destruction. 
The  smokeless  powder  and  the  small  caliber  conical  bullet,  surrounded  by  a 
steel  mantle,  have  revolutionized  modern  warfare.  Rapid  firing  and  certainty 
of  aim  at  a  great  distance  will  make  the  battles  of  the  future  of  short  duration, 
but  the  loss  of  life  and  the  number  disabled  by  wounds  will  be  fearful.  The 
bullet  wounds  that  will  come  under  the  treatment  of  the  military  surgeons  of 
the  future  wars  will  present  entirely  different  aspect,  and  will  call  for  different 
treatment,  than  those  inflicted  by  the  old  weapons.  The  modern  bullet,  by 
virtue  of  its  great  penetrating  power,  will  either  produce  a  speedily  fatal 
•\vound,  or  the  injury  it  produces  will  be  more  amenable  to  successful  treatment 
lecause  it  produces  less  contusion  of  the  soft  tissues  and  splintering  of  bone 
than  the  heavy  bullet  used  in  the  past.  Burne,  Bardeleben  and  others  have 
made  careful  experimental  researches  concerning  the  effect  of  the  new  pro- 
jectile, but  this  subject  is  not  exhausted,  and  there  is  plenty  of  room  for 
original  work  by  our  members  in  this  department  of  military  surgery.  The 
operative  treatment  of  penetrating  wounds  of  the  chest  and  abdomen,  on  the 
battlefield,  offers  another  inviting  field  for  original  investigation.  The  various 
materials  devised  for  dressing  wounds  on  the  battlefield  have  all  their  faults 
and  merits,  but  none  of  them  are  perfect.  The  methods  of  transportation  of 
the  sick  and  wounded,  the  construction  of  tents  and  movable  barracks,  are 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  19 

not  closed  chapters,  and  are  all  susceptible  of  improvement  by  original  thought 
and  investigation.  More  ingenuity  has  been  displayed  of  late  years  in  per- 
fecting firearms  and  in  the  invention  of  machines  for  wholesale  destruction  of 
life  than  in  devising  ways  and  means  in  saving  the  lives  of  those  seriously 
injured.  It  is  our  duty  as  military  surgeons  to  counteract  as  far,  as  we  can 
the  horrors  of  war  by  devising  life-saving  operations,  and  by  protecting  the 
injured  against  dangers  incident  to  traumatic  infection.  Antiseptic  and  aseptic 
surgery  must  be  made  more  simple  than  they  are  now  in  order  that  we  may 
reap  from  them  equal  blessings  in  military  as  in  civil  practice.  Enough  has 
been  said  to  show  you  that  a  military  association  of  this  kind  can  become  an 
inestimable  boon  to  mankind  if  some  of  the  members  will  explore  unknown 
regions  and  bring  to  light  the  priceless  jewel  of  original  thought  and  research." 

Dr.  Senn  was  one  of  ten  selected  to  give  an  address  before  the  entire 
membership  of  the  Twelfth  International  Medical  Congress  which  met  in 
Moscow  in  1897.  He  was  a  guest  of  the  Czar,  and  was  invited  to  lodge  in  the 
Kremlin  during  his  stay  in  the  city. 

Professor,  Senn  performed  valuable  service  during  the  Spanish- American 
war  in  Cuba.  In  1899  he  was  invited  to  deliver  the  "Lane  Lectures"  in  Cooper 
Medical  College,  San  Francisco — the  first  American  so  favored.  This  is  con- 
sidered a  rare  honor  and  is  accompanied  by  an  honorarium  of  two  thousand 
dollars.  It  is  as  a  surgeon  and  clinical  teacher  that  he  will  be  long  remem- 
bered, and  from  his  surgical  and  clinical  work  will  come  the  data  most  interest- 
ing to  the  public.  Dr.  Senn's  name  and  fame  taps  vast  regions  for  clinical 
material.  The  most  difficult  and  formidable  cases  come  to  his  clinic,  since 
many  of  his  patients  have  been  filtered  through  the  hands  of  local  physicians, 
who  have  confessed  the  case  to  be  beyond  their  skill.  In  his  surgical  clinic 
are  exhibited  the  most  desperate  cases  of  carcinoma,  sarcoma  and  tuberculosis, 
collected  from  wide  territory,  on  which  he  performs  his  master  operations 
with  a  boldness  based  on  anatomic  and  pathologic  facts.  Professor  Senn  is 
the  most  brilliant  genius  of  the  able  galaxy  of  surgeons  who  have  filled  the 
Rush  Surgical  Chair.  He  is  a  rare  combination  of  the  practical  worker  and  the 
theoretic  teacher.  In  vigorous  practical  application  and  theoretical  views  he 
has  few  equals.  He  is  a  man  of  vast  conceptions,  grasping  the  whole  domain 
of  medicine  and  surgery  with  a  master  hand.  Though  he  may  not  exhaust 
subjects  like  the  slow,  broad  analysis  of  the  philosopher,  yet  his  brilliant  gener- 
alization of  subjects  is  most  attractive.  Dr.  Senn  is  an  eloquent  clinician,  an 
impressive  teacher  and  practical,  conservative  surgeon.  He  uses  stately 
sentences  and  a  Latinized  vocabulary  requiring  a  disciplined  mind  to  fully 
comprehend.  He  excels  as  a  diagnostician,  quickly  detecting  the  trend  of  path- 
ologic processes.  His  prophecy  in  prognosis  rests  on  past  experiences,  as  the 
best  prophets  of  the  future  are  those  of  the  past.  Though  born  with  superior 


20  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

power,  yet  he  has  risen  to  fame  through  a  genius  for  labor.  Keenly  practical, 
naturally  suspicious  of  traditional  views,  he  sought  confirmation  by  experi- 
mentation of  natural  phenomena.  He  saw  that  "To  the  solid  ground  of 
Nature  trusts  the  mind  that  builds  for  aye."  As  a  skillful  operator  and 
instructive  diagnostician,  Dr.  Senn  holds  a  magnificent  surgical  clinic.  The 
late  distinguished  Billroth,  the  foremost  surgeon  of  the  Old  World,  did  not 
present  such  practical  views  in  so  short  a  time.  Billroth  was  too  ponderous 
and  slow  to  enthuse  an  audience  as  does  Dr.  Senn.  His  life  and  soul  is  in  his 
clinic,  and  from  the  treasury  of  nature  and  from  the  literature  of  all  ages  he 
has  a  mind  stored  with  a  wealth  of  thought. 

Of  the  able  men  who  have  filled  the  Chair  of  Surgery  in  Rush  College, 
none  have  surpassed  Dr.  Senn  in  plastic  surgery,  in  which  line  he  is  a  master. 
The  appreciation  of  his  labors  by  the  profession  is  shown  by  the  continually 
increasing  attendance  of  busy  physicians  on  his  clinics.  To  the  majority  his 
plastic  work  is  the  most  popular  branch  of  his  surgery.  Plastic  surgery  strikes 
the  eye  of  all  observers,  and  his  perfect  cosmetic  results  are  a  constant  source 
of  admiration.  Professor  Senn  proceeds  on  the  idea  that  to  do  a  perfect  plastic 
operation  requires  studied  methods,  mathematical  accuracy  and  geometrical 
planning.  One  must  learn  to  estimate  curves  and  squares,  and  know  that,  in 
general,  squares  coapt  more  perfectly  than  curves.  He  knows  that  plastic 
surgery  does  not  praise  itself  by  deficiency  from  ulcerations  nor  by  flaws  from 
tension  necrosis.  Perfect  coaptation  of  the  outline  of  flaps  requires  careful 
planning. 

Dr.  Senn  possesses  a  genius  in  estimating,  and  accurately  coapting,  flap 
outlines.  He  is  a  thorough  believer  in  autoplastic,  in  contradistinction  to 
heteroplastic,  surgery.  His  phenomenal  success  in  plastic  surgery  is  due  not 
merely  to  the  planning  and  forming  of  flaps  and  the  most  minute  attention  to 
suturing,  but  also  to  his  careful  selection  of  tissue  on  which  to  plant  his  flaps, 
and  his  careful  management  of  blood  supply  in  the  pedicles.  He  does  not 
expect  a  flap  to  grow  well  on  bony  prominences,  on  the  shiny  surface  of  tender 
sheaths,  nor  on  degraded  fatty  tissue.  He  makes  his  flaps  uniform  in  thick- 
ness, procures  them  with  the  least  trauma,  splits  subcutaneous  tissue  in  the 
direction  of  least  resistance,  drops  degraded  fat  and  employs  straight  rather, 
than  curved  lines.  These  flaps  are  procured  from  any  adjacent  region  which 
will  accommodate  a  pedicle,  as  on  it  depends  the  vitality  and  life  of  the  flap, 
and  it  must  contain  a  liberal  blood  channel  and  be  twisted  as  little  as  possible. 
The  difficulty  in  preserving  the  circulation  of  large  flaps  exists  chiefly  in  the 
veins;  small  arterial  channels  will  vitalize  a  flap,  but  it  is  a  great  tax  on  the 
veins  to  deplete  sufficiently  its  sudden  increase  of  blood.  When  large  flaps 
.become  blue  or  cedematous,  Dr.  .Senn  relieves  the  tension  by  multiple  punc- 
.tures,  whence  the  transfused  serum  escapes.  Sometimes  the  flap  becomes  blue, 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  21 

discolored  and  apparently  gangrenous,  but  in  a  few  days  its  vitality  is  estab- 
lished, with  only  the  loss  of  the  superficial  layers  of  the  epidermis.  In  plastic 
surgery  an  essential  feature  consists  in  avoiding  tension  by  liberal  flaps  and 
ample  undermining  of  adjacent  tissue.  Where  immense  trauma  is  inflicted 
on  subcutaneous  tissue,  as  in  the  neck,  by  extirpation-  of  tubercular  glands,  Dr. 
Senn  adopts  the  ingenious  method  of  long,  curved,  or  S-shaped  incisions  in 
order  to  avoid  remote,  irregular  cicatricial  contractions.  The  long  S-shaped 
incision  distributes  the  subsequent  contractions  in  the  scar  more  uniformly 
over  a  wider  field.  The  best  flap  to  grow  successfully  is  the  skin  with  its 
subcutaneous  tissue.  However,  Dr.  Senn  employs  flaps  containing  bone  to 
build  permanent  bridges  of  tissue,  as  in  the  side  or  septum  of  the  nose,  or  to 
reform  a  curved  eyebrow. 

It  requires  considerable  experience  to  form  a  flap  which  will  subsequently 
naturally  adjust  itself,  as  many  shrink  and  continue  to  shrink  for  a  week.  He 
frequently  takes  grafts  or  flaps  from  the  arm  or  leg.  This  often  incon- 
veniences the  patient,  yet  is  accompanied  by  excellent  results.  For  example,  in 
extensive  dorsal  tuberculosis  of  the  hand,  he  makes  a  large  flap  on  the  abdomen 
unsevered  at  both  ends  and  so  elevated  in  the  middle  that  the  hand  is  slipped 
beneath  it.  The  skin  and  diseased  tissue  on  the  dorsum  of  the  hand  being 
thoroughly  removed,  the  subcutaneous  portion  of  the  abdominal  flap  is  care- 
fully applied  over  it,  sutured  in  position  and  the  arm  fixed  with  a  plaster  of 
paris  bandage.  The  growth  of  the  flap  is  watched  for  a  few  days,  when  he 
begins  to  cut  away  gradually  each  of  the  attached  ends  in  opposite  directions 
so  that  the  establishment  of  the  new  circulation  will  be  gradual.  Unsevered 
flaps  or  grafts  are  more  certain  to  establish  vitality  and  shrink  less  than  severed 
ones.  Bone  flaps,  however,  if  attached  to  the  soft  tissue,  as  the  periosteum, 
will  survive  with  considerable  certainty. 

Dr.  Senn  excels  in  the  managing  of  flaps,  in  adjusting  the  tension  while 
stretching  or  sliding  them,  in  interpolating  borrowed  adjacent  tissue,  in  trans- 
ferring flaps  with  safe  pedicles  and  gradually  carrying  a  flap  into  its  final 
position.  By  a  series  of  movements  as  sliding,  transferring  and  twisting,  he 
utilizes  flaps  from  some  distant  member,  or  portion  of  the  body. 

Dr.  Senn  avoids  amputation  neuromata  by  taking  out  a  wedge-shaped 
piece  from  the  nerve,  covering  up  the  wound  with  the  sheath  of  the  nerve  and 
suturing  it  in  position.  In  extensive  plastic  work  about  the  neck,  performed 
through  the  long  S-shaped  incision,  he  has  demonstrated,  as  has  also  Miculicz, 
that  removal  of  a  portion  of  the  sterno  cleido  mastoid  muscle  does  not  deprive 
the  head  of  motions  which  were  originally  attributed  to  that  muscle.  The 
plastic  surgery  of  Dr.  Senn  is  not  merely  confined  to  the  face  and  neck,  where 
it  is  most  apparent,  but  with  a  master  skill  he  extends  it  to  amputation  flaps,  to 


22  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

tendon  sheaths  and  to  joints.  Some  of  the  most  beautiful  and  cosmetic  results 
observed  in  his  clinic  may  be  noted  in  the  operation  of  hare-lip. 

The  most  marked  and  essential  characteristic  of  mental  phenomena  is 
memory.  Dr.  Senn  is  gifted  with  a  memory  of  almost  mathematical  exactness. 
Nature's  first  and  richest  blessing  to  him  was  his  physique,  his  enormous  physi- 
cal capacity  for  work,  a  body  capable  of  almost  any  strain.  A  large  heart 
pumping  blood  into  a  big  brain,  supplied  by  ample  lungs  and  a  healthy  stomach, 
unfold  a  story  of  continuous  capacity  for  endurance.  The  peculiar  trait  of 
Dr.  Senn  is  the  genius  for  persistent,  indefatigable  labor  that  unlocks  the 
secrets  which  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  common  energy.  His  physical  power 
of  labor  enables  him  to  pursue,  methodically,  subjects  beyond  the  reach  of  his 
fellows,  for  though  one  may  be  endowed  with  mental  gifts,  a  physique  is 
requisite  for  continuous  thought.  Genius  is  the  product  of  labor,  and  labor  is 
the  genius  of  application.  Dr.  Senn  has  followed  with  wonderful  success  his 
investigations  amidst  a  laborious  and  exciting  practice.  He  has  experimented 
methodically  and  investigated  with  definite  plans — all  involving  work  far 
beyond  the  inclinations  of  most  physicians.  His  reputation  was  built  in  fields 
in  which  personal  labor  alone  availed,  the  field  of  surgical  pathology.  Most 
men  require  to  accomplish  any  meritorious  object  with  the  microscope  abso- 
lutely uninterrupted  leisure,  but  he  has  been  obliged  to  do  his  scientific  work  in 
the  midst  of  an  exacting  surgical  practice.  Dr.  Senn  judiciously  avoided 
desultory  investigations,  the  bane  of  many  gifted  minds.  All  practical  investi- 
gators recognize  that  only  persistent  special  labor  in  special  fields  is  of  benefit 
to  the  race.  Dr.  Senn  has  a  gift  of  transmitting  enthusiasm  for  work  to  his 
fellows,  not  only  by  his  interesting  clinical  teachings  but  by  his  writings.  Few 
can  excite  such  aspirations  beyond  the  reach  of  their  personality.  He  is 
fortunate  to  live  in  an  age  of  practical  experiment.  Even  the  laity  ask  what 
is  the  practical  effect  of  any  new  force  or  remedy.  Yet  only  reasonable  investi- 
gations demand  attention. 

Dr.  Senn's  method  of  teaching  is  a  combination  of  the  practical  American 
and  analytic  German  style.  He  reflects  the  investigating  power  of  his  German 
masters.  A  large  majority  of  his  quotations  are  from  German  authors.  He 
has  a  marvelous  power  of  passing  rapidly  from  one  patient  to  another  and 
with  the  enviable  power  of  applying  the  concrete  pathology  to  the  patient  in 
hand.  In  diagnosis  he  reminds  one  forcibly  that  probability  is  the  rule  of  life, 
and  that  natural  pathologic  processes  may  be  sought  out.  In  his  surgical 
clinic  he  has  established  a  magnificent  method  of  instruction,  a  Socratic  style. 
He  has  a  consulting  staff  of  Seniors ;  each  one  brings  a  patient  into  the  arena, 
gives  a  short  clinical  history  of  the  patient  and  a  diagnosis  of  the  case.  Now, 
a  man's  knowledge  is  apparent  from  the  questions  he  asks.  After  the  Senior 
has  produced  his  diagnosis,  Dr.  Senn  closely  questions  his  methods  and  views 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  23 

for  the  faith  that  is  in  him.  In  these  four  patients  the  whole  field  of  medicine 
and  surgery  may  be  encompassed,  and  it  proves  to  be  one  of  the  most  instruc- 
tive, suggestive  clinical  hours.  It  is  equal  to  the  clinics  of  Von  Bergmann, 
Czerny,  Albert,  Nothnagel,  Erb,  Gusserow,  Neisser,  Leyden.  The  diagnosis 
must  rest  on  analysis,  on  exclusion,  on  pathologic  facts.  The  methods  Dr. 
Senn  pursues,  especially  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest  colleges  in  the  country, 
are  of  immeasurable  value  to  the  profession.  His  accurate  description  of 
cases  and  presentation  of  microscopical  specimens  constitute  an  instructive 
post-graduate  course.  He  can  not  be  in  any  sense  styled  a  "cutter."  He  saves 
members  and  organs  that  many  would  sacrifice.  He  advocates  that  sweeping 
removal  of  organs  and  parts  should  not  be  the  surgery  of  to-day  and  practices 
sharply  his  views  in  his  clinic.  He  is  influencing  surgery  in  the  direction  of 
conservatism  and  leading  young  surgeons  in  the  right  road.  Surgery  with 
Dr.  Senn  is  to  repair,  to  prolong  life  and  diminish  suffering,  and  not  to  dem- 
onstrate perfect  operations. 

Dr.  Senn  in  his  teaching  pursues  entirely  new  methods  and  assumes  new 
ground.  With  him  pathologic  anatomy  is  the  essential  grounds  for  operative 
procedures.  Bacteriology  must  be  understood.  Etiology  is  prominently  dis- 
cussed and  Prophylaxis  assumes  importance.  Dr.  Senn  discusses  far  more  his 
reasons  for  using  the  scalpel  than  how  to  employ  it.  His  clinic  is  unsurpassed 
for  learned  and  brilliant  views  of  medicine  and  surgery,  for  acute  diagnosis, 
for  abundant  and  varied  material,  for  conservative  and  radical  methods  and 
for  impressive  instruction. 

The  Doctor  has  made  numerous  valuable  contributions  to  medical  and 
surgical  literature,  and  his  reputation  as  a  writer  is  no  less  distinguished  than 
that  as  clinical  teacher  and  operative  surgeon.  His  books  entitled  "Experi- 
mental Surgery"  and  "Intestinal  Surgery"  embody  his  own  views  on  the 
results  of  his  clinical  experience  and  original  investigation.  They  have  met 
with  an  extensive  circulation,  and  their  author  is  universally  regarded  as  one 
of  the  most  original  and  advanced  workers  in  the  field  of  surgical  progress. 
Of  his  more  recent  publications,  the  one  entitled  "Senn's  Surgical  Bacteriol- 
ogy" is  worthy  of  special  mention.  The  book  is  valuable  to  the  student,  but 
its  chief  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  such  a  compilation  makes  it  possible  for  the 
busy  practitioner  whose  time  for  reading  is  limited,  and  whose  sources  of 
information  are  often  few,  to  become  conversant  with  the  most  advancing 
ideas  of  surgical  pathology  which  have  laid  the  foundation  for  the  wonderful 
achievements  of  modern  surgery.  His  works  on  Practical  Surgery,  Princi- 
ples of  Surgery  and  Pathology  and  Surgical  Treatment  of  Tumors  may  be 
found  in  the  office  of  most  of  our  physicians.  In  such  a  sketch  as  this  refer- 
ence should  be  made  to  Dr.  Senn's  recent  magnificent  gift  to  his  city  and  pro- 
fession, which  consists  of  his  great  collection  of  medical  books,  donated  to  the 


24  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Newberry  Library,  Chicago,  the  value  of  which  can  not  be  estimated  in  money, 
for,  as  Milton  says,  "A  good  book  is  the  precious  life  blood  of  a  master  spirit, 
embalmed  and  treasured  up  on  purpose  to  a  life  beyond  life."  Dr.  Senn  has 
for  many  years  been  engaged  in  gathering  this  priceless  collection  of  medical 
literature,  but  for  most  part  the  gems  of  the  library  were  obtained  by  purchase 
from  the  estate  of  Dr.  William  Baum,  Professor  of  Surgery,  University  of 
Gottingen.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  German  Congress  of  Surgeons, 
and  for  fifty  years  had  been  collecting  works  on  anatomy,  physiology,  sur- 
gery, and  the  old  classical  authorities.  Having  died  in  1886,  his  estate  offered 
the  library  for  sale.  His  wish  was  that  the  German  Congress  of  Surgeons 
should  purchase  the  library,  but  that  organization  did  not  see  their  way  clear 
to  meet  the  expenses.  The  administrator  of  his  estate  publicly  stated  that  Pro- 
fessor Baum  had  spent  over  forty  thousand  dollars  in  its  purchase.  The 
administrator  offered  the  library  to  various  parties,  and  the  Royal  Library  of 
Berlin  offered  an  almost  fabulous  price  for  a  number  of  antiquarian  volumes 
contained  in  the  collection,  but  the  administrator,  following  the  wishes  of 
Prof.  Baum,  refused  to  separate  the  books,  and  announced  that  it  would  be 
sold  by  auction.  This  coming  to  the  ears  of  Dr.  Senn,  he  at  once  secured 
it  by  making  a  partial  payment,  and  then  withdrew  it  from  sale.  The  books 
were  shipped  to  Dr.  Senn,  then  in  Milwaukee,  in  fifty-two  cases,  constituting 
an  entire  carload.  Besides  the  works  on  Surgery,  Gynecology  and  Ophthal- 
mology in  the  Baum  library,  the  collection  contains  a  full  set  of  Virchow's 
Archives,  several  single  volumes  of  which  are  now  valued  at  $5oeach,Langen- 
beck's  Archives,  Jahresbcricht  der  Gesammten  Medicin,  Cannstatt's  Jahres- 
bericht,  Praguer  Viertcljahreschrift,  and  the  Dcntscher  Chmirgie.  The  con- 
tinuation of  these  periodicals  from  time  to  time,  by  the  terms  of  the  gift,  the 
Newberry  Library  must  hereafter  procure  as  published.  To  the  foregoing 
Dr.  Senn  has  added  nearly  all  the  modern  works  on  Surgery,  which  includes 
Gynecology,  and  allied  branches.  He  will  retain  his  working  library  of 
modern  works,  and  a  few  old  favorites  to  which  he  is  naturally  attached.  It 
is  said  that  the  first  thought  of  this  action  was  suggested  by  Mrs.  Senn,  who, 
appreciating  the  value  of  the  library,  pointed  out  the  insecurity  of  a  private 
house  from  fire  and  other  casualties,  and  Dr.  Senn  concluded  that  he  would 
place  the  collection  at  the  disposal  of  the  profession.  There  are  thousands 
and  thousands  of  pamphlets,  ancient  and  modern,  and  atlases  almost  number- 
less. All  of  these  go  with  the  collection;  the  money  value  is  about  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  No  bibliophile  can  part  with  his  books  without  regret,  and 
yet  in  this  section  Prof.  Senn  has  built  himself  a  monument  more  enduring 
that  bronze  or  marble,  for  generations  of  medical  men,  long  after  those  now 
on  the  stage  shall  have  passed  away,  will  draw  inspiration  and  wisdom  from 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  25 

the  "Senn  Collection"  in  the  Newberry  Library,  and  as  often  with  gratitude 
reflect  on  the  noble  generosity  of  its  distinguished  founder. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  says  of  Dr.  Senn :  "Dr.  Nicholas  Senn's  leading 
professional  characteristics  are  great  industry,  readiness  in  original  research ; 
unusual  tact  in  applying  the  results  to  practical  purpose,  and  a  liberal  contribu- 
tion to  medical  literature."  Dr.  Henry  M.  Lyman  adds :  "Gifted  with  re- 
markable physical  endurance,  Dr.  Senn  is  able  to  utilize  all  his  other  ad- 
vantages to  the  highest  degree."  Dr.  John  Ridlon  says :  "Dr.  Senn  is  the 
greatest  surgeon  of  the  age,  and  no  man  can  approach  him  as  a  teacher  because 
of  his  manner  of  expression,  his  intenseness,  and  his  ability  to  enthuse  his 
students." — [BYRON  ROBINSON.] 


Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot  writes :  "A  visit  to  the  Nicholas  Senn  room  in  the 
Newberry  Library  naturally  raises  the  question,  'How  is  it  possible  for  one 
individual  to  write  the  many  volumes  of  which  the  original  manuscripts  are 
seen?'  To  answer  this  question  one  must  know  the  habits  of  the  man.  It  was 
my  good  fortune  to  make  a  pilgrimage  with  Dr.  Senn  to  the  Twelfth  Inter- 
national Medical  Congress,  held  at  Moscow  in  August,  1897.  The  three 
months  we  were  together  afforded  opportunity  to  study  his  habits  from  day  to 
day.  He  was  the  busiest  man  I  ever.  saw.  When  he  slept  was  a  mystery  to  all. 
He  was  up  at  four  and  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  visiting  hospitals  and 
infirmaries,  recording  his  observations  late  into  the  night  and  sending  reports 
to  the  American  medical  journals.  Even  upon  a  trip  of  pleasure,  his  method 
of  saving  the  minutes  having  become  a  part  of  his  life,  he  found  it  difficult  to 
give  himself  up  to  rest  and  recreation.  A  power  of  concentration  and  a  habit 
of  doing  those  things  which  may  be  put  to  practical  use,  adding  a  little  each 
hour,  each  day,  each  week,  has  enabled  Dr.  Senn  to  do  so  much.  His  physical 
endurance  is  wonderful.  His  knowledge  of  pathology  and  bacteriology  has 
revolutionized  the  methods  of  surgery.  His  mental  fertility  and  his  ready  pen 
have  recorded  his  experiences  in  such  a  manner  that  the  student  of  to-day  and 
the  people  at  large  are  reaping  the  benefits  of  his  studious  life." 


Dr.  S.  L.  Marston,  of  Hartford,  Wisconsin,  who  was  associated  with  Dr. 
Senn  to  some  extent  during  the  earlier  years  of  the  latter's  practice,  and 
assisted  him  in  his  first  operation  of  any  importance,  has  many  interesting 
reminiscences  concerning  those  days,  and  we  excerpt  the  following : 

"It  was  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Munk,  in  the  city  of  Fond  du  Lac,  that  he  com- 
menced the  study  of  medicine,  and  it  was  while  under  the  Doctor's  tuition  that 
he  first  manifested  that  interest  in  experimental  research  that  has  so  largely 
contributed  to  his  fame.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he  commenced  his  experi- 
ments with  the  drug  digitalis,  administering  it  to  both  quadrupeds  and  bipeds 


26  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

whenever  a  favorable  opportunity  offered.  I  will  briefly  relate  one  of  these 
experiments,  as  it  will  not  only  illustrate  his  thoroughness  as  an  investigator, 
but  the  risk  he  was  willing  to  incur  in  gratifying  his  desire  for  that  knowledge 
which  can  only  be  acquired  from  personal  experience.  This  experiment  was 
made  upon  himself  with  the  tincture  of  digitalis  while  visiting  his  parents 
in  the  country.  He  took  the  drug  in  such  doses  as  to  produce  a  very  decided 
impression  upon  his  circulatory  system.  This  was  demonstrated  by  the  record 
of  his  pulse,  which  he  counted  every  ten  minutes.  When  it  appeared  from 
the  record  that  they  had  become  greatly  reduced  from  their  normal  frequency 
the  family  became  alarmed,  and  disregarding  his  remonstrances  sent  for  a 
physician.  The  physician,  after  feeling  his  pulse  and  noting  the  action  of  his 
heart,  informed  him  as  to  their  then  existing  characteristics.  He  hastened 
to  make  a  record  of  the  Doctor's  report  and  to  express  his  gratification  that 
this  observation  of  his  circulation  made  at  this  time,  and  while  he  was  yet 
under  the  influence  of  digitalis,  was  by  a  practicing  physician — that  this  fact 
would  add  greatly  to  the  value  of  the  experiment.  The  Doctor  advised  rest  in 
the  recumbent  position  and  to  cease  from  further  experimenting  with  digitalis. 
He  declared  it  to  be  an  old  remedy  whose  action  was  well  understood,  and  that 
further  experimenting  with  it  he  believed  to  be  unnecessary.  This  advice,  how- 
ever well  meant,  was  unheeded  by  the  experimenter,  for  he  continued  his 
experimental  researches  and  studies  of  the  physiological  and  therapeutic  action 
of  digitalis  during  the  remaining  years  of  his  student  life,  and  until  he  was 
able  to  present  such  an  array  of  facts — the  result  of  his  own  investigation — 
in  a  thesis  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  as  to  controvert  the 
then  generally  accepted  opinion  of  the  action  of  the  drug. 

"This  opinion  is  very  tersely  stated  in  the  I3th  edition  of  the  United 
States  Dispensatory;  on  page  363  the  author  says:  'Digitalis  diminishes  the 
frequency  of  the  pulsation  of  the  heart  by  a  directly  depressing  power.'  And 
again  on  page  364 :  'A  peculiarity  of  digitalis  is  that  after  having  been  given 
in  moderate  doses  for  several  days  without  apparent  effect,  it  sometimes  acts 
suddenly  with  an  accumulative  influence,  even  endangering  life.'  For  this 
thesis  he  was  awarded  a  first  prize,  with  the  recommendation  that  it  be  pub- 
lished in  The  Chicago  Medical  Examiner.  *  *  * 

"Soon  after  completing  his  term  of  service  in  Cook  County  Hospital  Dr. 
Senn  located,  in  the  spring  of  1869,  in  the  village  of  Elmore,  town  of  Ashford, 
Fond  du  Lac  county,  Wisconsin.  This  village  was  but  three  miles  from  the 
farm  on  which  the  Senn  family  located  upon  their  arrival  as  Swiss  emigrants 
in  America,  and  where  his  father,  mother,  sister,  and  older  brother  (Ulrich 
Senn)  still  resided.  Elmore  was  a  small,  isolated  village;  the  nearest  railroad 
station  and  market  town  was  the  city  of  Fond  du  Lac,  sixteen  miles  distant. 
At  that  time  there  were  no  drug  stores  nearer  to  him  than  that 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  27 

city,  so  that,  in  common  with  other  country  practitioners,  he  was 
under  the  necessity  of  dispensing  the  medicines  he  prescribed.  To 
meet  this  condition  he  had  one  wing  of  his  house  converted  into 
an  office  and  pharmacy,  but  before  he  was  fairly  settled  his  work 
as  a  general  practitioner  commenced.  His  business  soon  extended 
throughout  Ashford  and  the  adjoining  towns  of  Eden,  Auburn,  and  Osceola, 
in  Fond  du  Lac  county,  Wayne  and  Kewaskum,  in  Washington  county, 
Mitchell  and  Scott,  in  Sheboygan  county,  and  the  town  of  Lomira,  in  Dodge 
county.  In  these  towns,  as  in  many  other  localities  throughout  the  State,  the 
practice  of  medicine  and  surgery  had  become  very  much  disarranged,  and 
this  resulted  in  a  measure  from  the  Civil  war  and  the  consequent  invasion  of 
charlatans.  At  the  beginning  and  during  the  war  fields  of  practice  were  left 
vacant  by  physicians  who  had  been  commissioned  medical  officers  in  the  army, 
and  their  work  was  taken  up  by  new  men,  of  whom  many  were  incompetent. 
A  few,  however,  were  meritorious,  but  most  of  them  had  such  an  aversion  to 
operating  that  they  were  not  inclined  to  undertake  it  any  further  than  was 
absolutely  necessary  in  emergency  cases.  They  contended  that  the  remedying  of 
deformities,  the  removal  of  tumors,  etc.,  by  operative  procedures,  should  'only 
be  undertaken  by  a  few  men  in  the  large  cities  who  had  acquired  the  reputa- 
tion of  being  very  skillful  surgeons.  For  various  reasons,  more  especially 
on  account  of  the  absence  of  transportation  facilities,  an  unusual  number  of 
cases  requiring  operative  procedure  had  accumulated  in  the  country  towns 
during  the  Civil  war  period  and  immediately  subsequent  thereto.  These 
cases  appealed  to  Doctor  Senn  for  relief  when  he  took  up  the  work  of  a  coun- 
try doctor,  and  he  was  not  inclined  to  disregard  such  appeals.  At  this  time, 
however,  it  was  regarded  by  many  as  very  presumptuous  for  a  young  man, 
just  commencing  the  practice  of  the  profession,  to  undertake  capital  opera- 
tions; his  accurate  anatomical  knowledge,  and  other  special  qualifications  for 
beginning  the  work  of  an  operator,  could  not  be  considered — his  age  was 
against  him.  This  irrational  prejudice  manifested  itself  in  a  very  abrupt 
manner  in  the  first  case  requiring  operative  procedure  which  came  under  his 
observation." 

Dr.  Marston  here  gives  a  brief  history  of  this  case  and  of  another  opera- 
tion performed  shortly  afterward  in  the  face  of  gre.at  prejudice,  and,  continu- 
ing, says,  regarding  the  last  operation :  "The  outcome  of  the  case  was  very 
satisfactory  to  all  parties  interested,  more  especially  to  the  patient,  who,  dis- 
regarding the  old  proverb,  'Where  doctors  disagree,'  etc.,  made  a  good  recov- 
ery. This  operation,  when  considered  with  a  final  analysis  of  the  vocal 
phenomena  that  attended  it,  was  far-reaching  in  its  ultimate  results.  It  not 
only  gave  him  [Dr.  Senn]  the  opportunity  to  assert  his  individuality  and 
demonstrate  his  ability  for  surgical  work,  but  to  beat  out  every  vestige  of  that 


28  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

prejudice  which  had  previously  existed  for  reasons  that  I  have  heretofore 
stated,  from  the  minds  of  both  physicians  and  laymen  in  the  locality  where  he 
then  resided.  The  two  well  meaning  and  conscientious  physicians  whose 
protests  and  adverse  opinions  I  am  making  a  record  of,  but  without  criticism 
(for  I  have  since  regarded  them  from  their  standpoint  as  excusable),  from 
this  time  on  became  his  ardent  admirers,  and  so  remained  until  the  days  of 
their  decease.  They  often  called  him  in  consultation,  and  recommended  to  him 
all  surgical  cases  of  importance  that  came  under  their  observation.  *  *  * 
The  immediate  effect  was  to  so  enlarge  his  field  of  practice  as  to  extend  his 
reputation  not  only  throughout  the  country  towns,  but  to  the  cities  of  the  State, 
even  to  Milwaukee,  where  in  1874  he  was  tendered  the  position  of  surgeon  in 
chief  of  Passavant  Hospital. 

He  grasped  the  skirts  of  happy  chance 
And  struck  the  blows  of  circumstance, 

opportunities  for  doing  which  he  has  apparently  never  neglected  throughout 
the  whole  of  his  professional  career.  Soon  after  announcing  his  readiness  to 
receive  them,  calls  at  his  house  for  advice  and  treatment  became  quite  numer- 
ous, so  much  so  that  from  the  beginning  of  the  winter  of  1870,  and  for  all 
the  time  subsequent  to  that  date  while  he  remained  at  Elmore,  his  office  practice 
required  his  constant  attention  from  9  A.  M.  until  12  o'clock  noon.  At  this  hour 
he  dined.  His  hour  for  luncheon  was  about  midnight — occasionally  at  two  or 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  after  returning  from  making  his  every  day 
trip  of  many  miles  to  visit  patients  in  the  surrounding  country.  These  jour- 
neys were  made  over  rough  and  hilly  roads,  not  infrequently  obstructed  with 
snow,  and  continued  to  be  the  routine  of  his  manual  labor  while  he  practiced  in 
the  country. 

"His  reading  was  not  neglected,  and  his  literary  work,  to  which  I  will 
again  refer,  was  mostly  done  in  the  night  before  retiring,  and  after  having 
returned  from  his  daily  rounds  of  visiting  his  patients.  The  successful  accom- 
plishment of  so  great  an  amount  of  work  demonstrated  the  possession  of  an 
immense  amount  of  energy  and  great  powers  of  endurance.  In  those  days 
he  never  complained  of  being  tired. 

"During  the  summer  and  fall  months  of  each  year,  when  his  professional 
work  would  permit,  he  would  occasionally  devote  a  day  to  recreation.  Hunting 
and  fishing  were  favorite  pastimes  with  him,  and  in  company  with  the  writer 
he  often  ranged  through  the  woods  in  search  of  squirrels,  and  went  fishing  on 
the  small  lakes  in  our  immediate  vicinity.  The  Doctor  was  a  good  shot  with  a 
rifle,  rarely  missing  a  squirrel's  head.  He  enjoyed  the  company  of  medical 
men,  and  it  was  a  day  of  recreation  for  him  to  be  able  to  attend  a  society  meet- 
ing. He  never  failed  in  attendance  on  meetings  of  the  Wisconsin  State 
Medical  Society,  of  which  he  became  a  member  on  the  i5th  day  of  June,  1870, 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  29 

and  very  rarely  failed  in  attendance  on  the  meetings  of  all  local  medical  socie- 
ties that  were  held  within  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  of  his  residence.  Neither 
bad  roads,  rain,  snow  nor  extremely  low  temperature  was  regarded  by  him  as 
sufficient  excuse  for  his  non-attendance.  To  gain  the  necessary  time  he  would 
frequently  travel  to  visit  his  patients  throughout,  the  night  immediately  pre- 
ceding and  following  the  day  on  which  the  meeting  was  held.  *  *  * 

"The  work  of  Dr.  Senn  during  the  five  years  he  resided  in  Fond  du  Lac 
county  was  that  of  a  remarkably  successful  general  practitioner.  As  a  physi- 
cian he  was  noted  for  his  accuracy  as  a  diagnostician,  and  for  his  success  in 
the  treatment  of  disease.  As  an  obstetrician  he  was  skillful,  cautious,  and 
conservative,  but  it  became  apparent  as  early  as  1871  that  surgery  would 
eventually  become  a  specialty  with  him,  as  he  was  rapidly  acquiring  the  repu- 
tation, with  both  physicians  and  laymen,  of  being  an  expert  in  that  branch  of 
medical  science.  Many  with  deformities  to  be  remedied,  and  others  suffering 
from  diseases  requiring  operative  procedure,  came  to  him  from  distant  locali- 
ties for  treatment,  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  his  many  friends,  most  of  whom 
had  come  to  believe  him  to  be  handicapped  by  reason  of  his  residing  in  an 
obscure  country  village,  and  that  his  reputation  as  a  surgeon  must  necessarily 
continue  to  be  local,  and  to  be  confined  to  the  half  dozen  towns  of  his  field  of 
practice. 

"It  is  true  that  Roentgen  had  not  as  yet  discovered  and  demonstrated  the 
penetrating  qualities  of  the  rays  that  bear  his  name;  that  the  lamp  of  Edison, 
radiating  light  from  incandescent  material,  had  not  then  been  thought  of,  never- 
theless they  could  have  learned  from  history  that  the  light  of  genius  could  not 
be  hidden  under  a  bushel. 

"With  the  increase  of  his  practice  from  year  to  year  his  work  became 
more  and  more  arduous,  but  never,  however,  to  such  a  degree  as  to  interfere 
with  its  successful  performance.  As  yet  no  limit  had  been  fixed  to  his  capacity 
for  labor ;  the  word  fatigue  was  not  in  his  vocabulary ;  he  had  never  been 
enabled  by  personal  experience  to  comprehend  its  meaning.  Apparently  he 
was  never  weary,  either  physically  or  mentally.  When  others  would  resort 
to  rest  in  the  recumbent  position  and  sleep  to  recuperate  their  vital  forces  after 
a  day  of  excessive  physical  or  mental  effort,  he  would  resort  to  his  study.  The 
demands  for  his  professional  services — which  were  always  complied  with — did 
not  prevent  his  finding  time  for  study  and  investigation  and  other  literary 
work.  The  first  three  of  the  many  papers  read  by  him  before  the  Wisconsin 
State  Medical  Society  were  written  while  he  resided  in  Elmore,  viz. :  "Ex- 
cision of  the  Clavicle  for  Osteo-Sarcoma ;"  "Necrosis  and  its  Treatment;"  and 
"Report  on  the  Indigenous  Botany  of  Central  Wisconsin."  They  can  be  found 
•in  the  published  transactions  of  the  Society  for  the  years  1871-72-73.  He 
occasionally  wrote  papers  for  district  and -county  medical  societies.  His  re- 


3o  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

ports  of  cases,  however,  were  usually  verbal,  and  articles  of  his  can  be  found 
in  medical  journals  of  the  day. 

"In  politics  Dr.  Senn  was  a  Republican,  and  was  very  conscientious  in 
the  discharge  of  his  political  obligations.  He  could  not  follow  a  leader  unless 
that  leader  had  a  firm  foothold  on  terra  firma — he  must  stand  on  solid  ground. 
Personally,  he  was  not  altogether  devoid  of  political  aspirations,  but  his  only 
ambition  in  that  direction  was  to  become  a  lawmaker — to  be  elected  to  the 
State  Legislature,  not  altogether  for  personal  notoriety — for  he  was  not 
looking  for  fame  in  that  direction — but  that  he  might  the  better,  aid  in  securing 
the  enactment  of  such  laws  as  would  promote  the  health,  happiness  and 
longevity  of  all  the  people ;  surely  such  an  ambition  was  laudable,  even  though 
it  was  destined  to  be  negatived — to  never  be  attained.  Yielding  to  the  impor- 
tunities of  local  politicians  he  became  the  Republican  candidate  for  the 
Assembly  in  the  fall  of  1873.  The  Assembly  district  at  that  time  .was  com- 
posed of  five  towns,  all  of  which  had  previously  given  large  Democratic  ma- 
jorities; in  one  township,  which  was  densely  populated,  but  few  Republican 
votes  had  ever  been  cast.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  become  a  candidate  on  account 
of  the  strenuous  effort  which  would  be  required  to  overcome  these  majorities, 
and  this  he  came  very  near  accomplishing — he  reversed  the  majorities  in  three 
of  the  towns,  and  largely  reduced  them  in  the  other  two.  But  he  was  not 
elected.  The  official  returns  showed  that  his  opponent  had  received  a  small 
majority  of  all  the  votes  cast,  and  they  further  showed  that  the  Doctor  had 
received  by  several  hundred  the  largest  vote  ever  cast  in  the  district,  prior  to 
that  election,  for  any  candidate  of  the  Republican  party.  This  was  very  satis- 
factory to  him  and  reconciled  him  to  his  defeat.  That  fortune  which  had 
always  favored  him  interposed  thus  early  in  his  professional  career  to  save  him 
from  himself — to  save  him  from  following  that  will-o'-the-wisp,  political 
preferment.  'There  is  a  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  rough  hew  them  as  we 
may.'  The  foregoing  is  the  only  experience  in  politics  that  occurred  to  Dr. 
Senn  prior  to  his  taking  up  his  residence  in  Milwaukee,  and  I  allude  to  it  for 
the  purpose  of  relating  the  facts  as  they  occurred.  This  version,  to  my  per- 
sonal knowledge,  is  absolutely  correct. 

"I  was  intimately  associated  with  Dr.  Senn  during  his  five  years'  resi- 
dence in  Elmore,  frequently  visiting  the  sick  with  him,  and  assisting  in  most  of 
his  important  operations.  I  knew  him  well  in  his  young  manhood,  and  held 
him  in  high  esteem,  not  only  as  a  physician  and  surgeon  of  marked  ability, 
but  as  a  man  of  strict  integrity,  whose  honor  and  moral  character  were  irre- 
proachable. In  his  intercourse  with  physicians  he  was  kind,  courteous  and 
just,  and  without  that  self-ctonceit  which  so  frequently  makes  the  young 
practitioner  disagreeable  to  his  seniors.  He  respected  the  opinions  of  those 
with  whom  he  consulted,  and  they  soon  learned  to  place  implicit  confidence  in 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  31 

him.  He  found  a  code  of  ethics  to  guide  him  in  his  relations  with  other  prac- 
titioners in  the  Golden  Rule,  and  this  code  he  observed  so  closely  that  no  one 
ever  had  occasion  to  complain  of  his  taking  an  undue  advantage  of  him.  In 
the  discharge  of  his  obligations  to  the  sick  he  was  guided  by  the  teaching 
of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  He  was  the  friend  of  the  poor,  and  he  never, 
failed  to  answer  their  calls  with  the  same  alacrity  as  the  calls  of  the  rich. 
His  most  zealous  friends  were  among  the  poor,  in  fact,  they  have  contributed 
more  toward  the  upbuilding  of  his  fame  and  reputation  than  any  other  class. 
He  has  often  visited  them  when  they  were  sick  without  hope  of  fee,  and  great 
has  been  his  reward." 


ALEXANDER  WOLCOTT,  M.  D. 

Alexander  Wolcott,  M.  D.,  was  born  at  East  Windsor,  Connecticut, 
February  14,  1790,  a  son  of  Alexander,  Sr.,  who  graduated  from  Yale  in 
1778,  and  settled  at  Windsor  as  an  attorney,  and  his  wife,  Lucy  Walso. 

Dr.  Alexander  Wolcott  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1809,  and  subse- 
quently studied  medicine.  He  was  regularly  commissioned  Surgeon's  Mate 
in  the  United  States  Navy  in  1812. 

Dr.  Wolcott  probably  came  to  Chicago  about  1820.  He  succeeded 
Judge  Jowett  as  Indian  Agent  in  that  year,  and  held  the  position  until  his 
death  in  1830.  After  Dr.  Wolcott's  arrival  in  Chicago,  he  finished,  and 
resided  in,  a  building  commenced  during  Judge  Jowett's  incumbency.  This 
was  the  agency  house  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  near  where  now  is  the 
foot  of  North  State  street,  and  which  was  facetiously  called  "Cobweb  Castle" 
during  his  residence  there  as  a  bachelor;  —  probably  from  the  noticeable  accu- 
mulation of  those  terrors  to  good  housekeepers  during  those  years. 

On  July  20,  1823,  Dr.  Wolcott  was  married  at  the  residence  of  John 
Kinzie,  by  John  Hamlin,  J.  P.,  of  Fulton  county,  to  Ellen  Marion,  eldest 
daughter  of  John  and  Eleanor  Kinzie.  In  1820  Dr.  Wolcott  accompanied 
the  expedition  under  Governor,  Cass,  from  Detroit,  through  the  Upper  Lakes 
to  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi.  The  party  left  Detroit  on  the  first  of  May, 
performed  the  journey,  and  returned  to  Lake  Michigan  the  latter  part  of 
August.  At  Green  Bay,  the  party  divided,  some  proceeding  to  Mackinac,  and 
a  part,  among  whom  were  Governor  Cass,  Dr.  Wolcott,  Major  Robert  For- 
syth,  Lieutenant  Mackay,  John  Kinzie  and  others,  took  the  old  Indian  trail  to 
Detroit,  while  Schoolcraft  and  Captain  Douglass  took  the  route  by  the  east- 
ern shore  of  the  lake  to  Mackinac.  Mr.  Schookraft  speaks  of  Dr.  Wolcott  as 
a  gentleman  "commanding  respect  by  his  manners,  judgment  and  intelli- 
gence." 


32  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

On  August  29,  1821,  a  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  Indians  at  Chi- 
cago, which  was  signed  in  the  presence  of  Alexander  Wolcott,  Jr.,  Indian 
Agent,  Jacob  R.  Varnum,  Factor,  and  John  Kinzie,  sub-Agent.  In  May, 
1823,  the  garrison  was  withdrawn  from  Fort  Dearborn,  and  the  post  and 
property  left  in  charge  of  Dr.  Wolcott,  who  moved  into  one  of  the  houses 
erected  for  officers'  quarters,  and  there  resided  until  the  fort  was  again  occu- 
pied by  United  States  troops  in  August,  1828.  He  was  appointed  Justice  of 
the  Peace  for  Peoria  county,  December  26,  1827,  and  is  recorded  as  judge  and 
voter  at  the  special  election  for  justice  of  the  peace  and  constable,  held  at  the 
house  of  James  Kinzie  in  the  Chicago  Precinct,  July  24,  1830. 

When  the  troops  arrived  to  regarrison  Fort  Dearborn  in  1828,  Dr.  Wol- 
cott and  his  family  returned  to  their  old  home  in  the  agency  house,  where  he 
died  late  in  the  fall  of  1830.  By  his  will  dated  October  18,  1830,  he  left  all 
his  property  to  his  wife  Eleanor  [See  Andreas,  Vol.  I,  Page  90]  M.  Wolcott 
and  his  daughter,  Mary  Ann.  The  latter  died  in  infancy,  and  his  widow  be- 
came his  sole  surviving  heir.  The  widow  of  Dr.  Wolcott  married  in  1836, 
Hon.  George  C.  Bates,  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  and  died  in  that  city  August  i, 
1860,  leaving  a  husband  and  one  son,  Kinzie  Bates,  M.  S. 

By  a  stupid  act  of  our  local  legislators,  the  name  of  Wolcott  street, 
which  served  as  an  historical  land-mark  of  this  early  resident,  was  changed  to 
North  State  street.  In  a  personal  letter  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  of  Chicago, 
said  that  Dr.  Wolcott  during  his  life  time  served  in  the  capacity  of  an  army 
surgeon.  It  seems,  however,  tolerably  clear,  that  he  performed  the  duties 
first  named,  residing  as  he  did,  outside  of  the  fort;  though  it  may  well  be 
believed  that  there  must  have  been  a  demand  for  his  professional  services 
such  as  he  could  not  but  gratify,  and  indeed  his  selection  for  such  a  post  must 
have  resulted  in  part  from  his  attainments  as  a  physician. 


HENRY  M.  LYMAN,  M.  D. 

This  eminent  Chicago  physician,  whose  fame  as  a  practitioner,  lecturer 
and  author  is  co-extensive  with  the  continents,  is  of  English  ancestry,  and 
first  saw  the  light  in  the  (then)  Kingdom  of  Hawaii,  having  been  born  at 
Hilo,  November  26,  1835.  The  Lyman  line  may  be  traced,  in  an  unbroken 
line,  to  the  days  of  the  Saxon  Harold  and  the  Earl  Godwin.  The  first  Ameri- 
can progenitor  of  the  family  of  whom  any  authentic  record  had  been  preserved 
.was  named  Richard  Lyman,  whom  religious  intolerance  drove  from  the  land 
of  his  birth  in  1632.  He  crossed  the  Atlantic  from  Old  to  New  England 


Rte.fts   I    CO. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANft 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  33, 

in  the  same  vessel  that  carried  Lady  Winthrop  and  the  Reverend  John  Eliot,, 
of  saintly  memory,  landing  at  Charlestown,  Massachusetts. 

Dr.  Henry  M.  Lyman  received  his  academic  training  at  the  Alma  Mater 
of  his  father,  graduating  from  Williams  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  in  1858,  and 
being  honored  with  that  of  A.  M.  in  1880.  Immediately  following  his  gradu- 
ation from  college  he  began  the  study  of  that  profession  in  which  each  coming 
decade  was  to  crown  him  with  fresh  laurels.  He  matriculated  at  Harvard 
University  Medical  College  in  1858,  but  remained  a  student  at  that  institution 
only  one  year,  completing  his  three  years'  course  at  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  at  New  York  City,  in  1861.  He  was  at  once  appointed 
House  Surgeon  at  Bellevue  Hospital,  a  position  whose  arduous  duties  he 
discharged  with  distinguished  skill  and  unwearying  fidelity  until  April,  1862, 
when  he  was  appointed  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  in  the  United  States 
army  and  assigned  to  duty  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  Ill  health  necessitated 
his  retirement  from  the  service  in  February,  1863,  and  in  October  of  that  year 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  Chicago  and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession. 
In  1867  he  was  made  an  Attending  Physician  in  Cook  County  Hospital, 
remaining  on  the  institution's  staff  until  1876.  He  has  sustained  the  same 
relation  to  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  of  Chicago  since  1884;  and  has  been 
Consulting  Physician  to  St.  Joseph's  Hospital  since  1890,  and  to  the  Hospital 
of  Women  and  Children  in  that  city  since  1893. 

It  is,  however,  as  a  teacher  and  author  that  Dr.  Lyman  has  gained  his 
most  conspicuous  success,  and  made  the  most  durable  impression  upon  the 
generation  that  has  sat  under  his  instruction,  witnessed  his  clinical  demonstra- 
tions and  profited  through  the  reading  and  study  of  his  contributions 
to  medical  literature.  His  mind  is  eminently  constructive,  impelling  him  to 
suggest  and  put  in  operation  new  agencies  of  instruction  and  relief.  In  1871 
he  was  called  to  the  Chair  of  Chemistry  in  Rush  Medical  College,  and  in  1876 
appointed  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System;  the  following  year 
(1877)  he  was  assigned  to  the  Chair  of  Physiology  and  Nervous  Diseases, 
which  he  filled  until  1890,  and  from  that  year  was  Professor  of  Medicine,  till 
his  health  gave  way  in  1900.  In  addition  to  his  duties  at  Rush,  Doctor 
Lyman  was  Professor  of  Medicine  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College  from 
1880  to  1888.  He  is  a  member  of  several  of  the  most  important  and  best 
known  Medical  Societies  in  the  country,  and  his  professional  brethren  have 
repeatedly  recognized  his  high  attainments  by  bestowing  upon  him  high 
honors.  In  1876  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Chicago  Pathological  Society, 
filling  the  same  position  in  the  Association  of  American  Physicians  during 
1891-92  rand  in  the  American  Neurological  Association  in  1892-93.  He  is 
also  an  honored  member  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society  of  Internal 
Medicine.  Among  his  professional  colleagues,  Doctor  Lyman  is  justly 


34  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

esteemed  as  a  scholar  and  a  Christian  gentleman,  and  such  men  as  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis,  Sr.,  Dr.  Senn,  Dr.  Quine,  and  Dr.  John  A.  Robison  have  written  very 
cordially  and  appreciatively  of  his  work. 

As  an  author  Dr.  Lyman,  while  not  a  prolific  writer,  is  at  once  perspicu- 
ous and  profound.  While  he  has  treated  comparatively  few  subjects,  he  has 
touched  none  which  he  has  not  adorned.  To  deep  erudition  he  has  joined  a 
diction  simple  and  pure,  and  his  works  have  easily  become  recognized  author- 
ities on  the  subjects  of  which  they  treat.  In  addition  to  various  contributions 
to  medical  journals,  Dr.  Lyman  is  the  author  of  "Artificial  Anaesthesia  and 
Anaesthetics"  (Wm.  Wood  &  Co.,  1880)  ;  "Insomnia  and  Other  Disorders  of 
Sleep"  (W.  T.  Keener,  Chicago,  1886)  ;  a  Text  Book  on  the  Theory  and 
Practice  of  Medicine  (Lea  Brothers  &  Co.,  1892).  He  is  one  of  the  colla- 
borators of  Ashurst's  Encyclopedia  of  Surgery,  as  well  as  of  the  American 
Text  Book  of  Medicine,  and  of  the  "Twentieth  Century  Practice  of 
Medicine." 


CHRISTIAN  FENCER,  M.  D. 

Eminent  as  a  pathologist,  Dr.  Fenger  was  no  less  distinguished  as  a 
surgeon;  endowed  with  a  brain  of  extraordinary  power,  he  was  likewise  gifted 
with  those  magnificent  physical  powers,  which,  in  union  with  such  mental 
development,  make  up  that  high  type  of  man  which  the  ancients  were  wont  to 
describe  as  mens  sana  in  corpore  sano.  Nor  was  his  fame  as  an  author  and 
instructor  less  than  his  celebrity  in  those  other  chosen  lines  of  his  profession, 
which  were  near  to  his  heart.  In  corroboration  of  this  statement  may  be 
quoted  these  words  of  the  great  surgeon,  Dr.  Nicholas  Senn,  "Dr.  Fenger  is 
one  of  the  best  pathologists  in  the  country,  while  as  a  surgeon,  student,  writer 
and  teicher,  he  has  no  superiors." 

Dr.  Fenger's  life  was  one  of  tireless  activity,  while  at  the  same  time  not 
devoid  of  either  change  or  adventure.  Born  in  Copenhagen,  Denmark,  and 
graduated  from  the  University  in  that  city,  in  1867,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven,  he  soon  came  into  prominence,  filling  various  posts  in  the  hospitals 
with  distinguished  ability,  and  being  made  a  lecturer  on  Pathologic  Anatomy 
in  his  Alma  Mater.  He  was  assistant  to  Wilhelm  Mayer  in  his  Ear  Clinic  for 
two  years,  and  an  interne  in  the  Friedrichs  Hospital,  Copenhagen,  for  two 
years.  In  1875  he  went  to  Egypt,  where  he  entered  the  service  of  the  Khe- 
dive, but  finding  the  climatic  influences  unfavorable  to  his  health,  remained 
in  that  country  only  two  years.  In  1877  he  came  to  America,  and  at  once 
established  himself  in  Chicago. 

To  the  profession  in  the  Northwest  two  decades  ago.  Pathology  was  a 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  35 

terra  incognita,  and  Dr.  Fenger  was  a  pioneer  in  the  demonstration  of  its 
principles,  and  the  exploiting  of  its  utility  in  this  great  and  constantly  widen- 
ing field.  As  regards  the  influence  of  his  exploitation,  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  progressive  and  thoughtful  students  have  followed  his  lead  for  many 
years. 

His  career,  after  making  Chicago  his  home,  was  one  of  steady  success. 
His  teaching  found  deep  root,  and  his  experimental  demonstrations  at  once 
challenged  criticism  and  commanded  conviction.  Indeed,  the  results  could 
scarce  have  been  otherwise,  since  he  brought  to  his  aid  deep  study,  profound 
research,  tireless  energy  and  forceful  personality. 

To  quote  the  words  of  that  ripe  scholar  and  successful  surgeon,  Dr.  J. 
B.  Murphy,  "Dr.  Fenger  has  the  true  love  for  scientific  knowledge — it  domi- 
nates every  other  faculty  in  his  life.  A  new  anatomic  or  physiologic  discov- 
ery elicits  enthusiasm,  electrifying  to  behold.  A  newly  demonstrated  patholo- 
gic observation  produces  ecstasy.  It  is  this  enthusiasm,  with  his  master  mind, 
that  has  made  him  the  apocalypt  of  surgical  pathology  in  this  western  world." 

Dr.  Fenger  was  a  skilled  microscopist,  and  as  a  surgical  diagnostician 
he  had,  perhaps,  few  equals  in  this  or  any  other  land.  His  mind,  like  that  of 
Virchow,  was  intensely  analytic,  and  was  quick  to  perceive  the  relations  of 
facts,  and  there  was,  perhaps,  no  surgeon  in  America  more  sought  for  ulti- 
mate diagnosis  than  he.  Yet,  like  all  men  truly  great,  he  was  ever  open  to 
conviction,  and  no  one  was  more  ready  to  accept  the  demonstration  of  new 
truths.  In  other  words,  while  conservative,  he  was  progressive.  The  Nestor 
of  the  American  medical  profession,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  well  described  him 
as  "a  man  of  genuine  erudition,  very  minutely  posted  in  the  department  of 
surgical  pathology,  skillful  in  operative  surgery,  a  teacher  of  high  reputation 
in  both,  and  an  honorable,  high-minded  citizen."  To  which  panegyric  Prof. 
Henry  M.  Lyman  adds :  "Dr.  Fenger  is  the  pioneer  of  modern  surgical 
methods  in  Chicago.  He  is  probably  the  most  learned  surgeon  in  this  city, 
and  is  as  modest  as  he  is  wise." 

Dr.  Fenger  was  the  first  surgeon  in  Chicago  to  perform  vaginal  hysterec- 
tomy, and  one  of  the  first  to  explore  the  brain  with  an  aspirating  needle 
(1884),  which  he  introduced  through  the  cerebral  meninges,  aspirating  the 
various  ventricles  without  withdrawing  it.  In  many  surgical  procedures  he 
was  a  pioneer,  and  of  not  a  few  an  originator.  He  was  notably  successful  in 
lung  surgery  for  abscess  and  gangrene,  and  was  one  of  the  few,  who,  prior 
to  1894,  removed  an  intramedullary  tumor  from  the  spinal  cord.  He  also  did 
much,  and  most  valuable,  pioneer  work  on  strictures  and  valves  of  the  ureters, 
as  well  as  on  the  prostate  gland.  It  was  he,  also,  who  demonstrated  the  ball- 
valve  action  caused  by  gall  stones  in  the  common  duct,  while  his  operation  for 
harelip  has  commanded  universal  admiration.  He  was  also  the  first  who,  when 


36  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

about  to  perform  nephrectomy,  cut  down  on  the  healthy  kidney  first  in  order 
to  leave  one  able  to  sustain  life  (1890). 

As  an  instructor  he  had  no  superior  and  few  peers.  His  methods  were  at 
once  didactic  and  argumentative.  He  arrested  and  enthralled  the  attentive 
interest  of  his  classes,  and  to  attend  one  of  his  clinics  approached  in  itself  a 
pathologic  revelation,  and  he  made  hosts  of  careful,  investigating  stu- 
dents. His  chair  at  Rush  Medical  College  was  one  of  the  most  ably  filled  in 
that  great  school. 

Yet  notwithstanding  his  rare  endowments  and  high  attainments  one  of 
Dr.  Fenger's  most  distinguishing  traits  was  his  modesty.  His  personal  wants 
were  few,  his  tastes  simple,  and  his  mode  of  life  unostentatious.  For  society 
in  the  sense  in  which  that  oft  misapplied  term  is  used,  he  cared  little,  but  his 
personal  friends,  whom  he  admitted  to  intercourse  with  him  in  his  library, 
he  esteemed  highly.  He  was,  however,  much  given  to  self-communing  and 
hard  private  study.  He  seemed  capable  of  performing  a  limitless  quantity  of 
work,  and  his  example,  no  less  than  his  writings,  has  been  to  the  profession 
a  powerful  incentive  to  research.  He  died  at  9:45  p.  m.,  March  7,  1902, 
at  his  home  in  Chicago,  after  an  illness  of  one  week.  The  cause  of  his  death 
was  croupous  pneumonia.  True  to  his  principles  that  he  had  so  often  taught, 
he  requested,  when  he  knew  that  he  might  die,  that  a  postmortem  examination 
be  made.  This  request  was  complied  with.  In  addition  to  the  pneumonia, 
which  involved  the  upper,  and  middle  lobes  of  the  right  lung,  there  were 
found  an  obliterating,  healed  tubercular  pleuritis  with  calcareous  bronchial 
glands,  and  three  gallstones  in  the  gall-bladder.  A  few  months  before  his 
death,  Dr.  Fenger  had  had  a  slight  attack  of  what  he  himself  recognized  as 
gallstone  colic. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  at  the  New  England  Congregational 
Church,  of  which  Dr.  Fenger  had  for  ten  years  been  a  member,  the  pastor, 
Rev.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  officiating.  The  interment  was  at  Rosehill 
Cemetery. 

In  writing  of  him  Dr.  Frank  Billings  says :  "Dr.  Fenger  has  done  more 
for  medicine  and  surgery  in  Chicago  and  the  Northwest  than  any  other  man. 
For  more  than  twenty  years  has  he  lived  in  Chicago,  and  has  by  word  and  act 
taught  and  encouraged  the  younger  medical  men  to  study  scientifically  at 
home,  and  to  go  abroad  for  a  more  extended  study.  His  wonderful  knowl- 
edge of  pathology,  of  surgery  and  of  medicine  has  always  won  the  respectful 
admiration  of  all  medical  men.  His  modest,  diffident,  unassuming  manner 
and  his  simple  life  have  endeared  him  to  all  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  be 
called  his  friend." 

From  the  obituary  notice  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, written  by  two  of  his  closest  associates,  the  following  paragraphs  are 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  37 

taken :  "His  work  as  a  writer  is  solid,  and  will  stand  the  closest  criticism. 
Much  of  it  is  for  all  time.  There  is  nothing  that  he  has  written,  at  least  noth- 
ing with  which  we  are  familiar,  that  does  not  contain  something  of  value, 
valuable  at  least  for  the  time  at  which  it  was  produced;  some  common  error 
is  corrected,  some  old  truth  presented  in  a  new  light,  or  some  new  discovery 
given  to  the  medical  world. 

"As  a  speaker  he  lacked  fluency.  His  hesitating  speech  made  it  at  first 
difficult  to  follow  him.  Yet  he  never  lacked  an  audience  at  clinic,  ward  opera- 
tion, or  at  discussion  in  a  medical  society.  And  it  is  true  that,  to  a  certain 
extent,  one  could  judge  of  the  caliber  of  a  man  by  finding  out  that  man's  esti- 
mate of  Dr.  Fenger  as  a  speaker  or  clinical  teacher.  The  best  men  listened 
respectfully  as  to  a  master;  the  poor  or  mediocre  man  became  impatient, 
criticised,  and  was  happy  in  his  ignorance. 

"Fenger  was  the  incarnation  of  the  scientific  spirit  in  surgery.  Men 
about  him  saw  this,  they  felt  it;  he  imparted  this  spirit  to  them.  Herein  lay 
one  of  the  elements  that  made  him  strong  and  a  man  of  influence.  Coming  to 
Chicago  as  he  did,  twenty-five  years  ago,  at  a  time  when  the  new  light  of 
modern  pathology  had  not  yet  broken  upon  the  Northwest,  he  began  his 
mission  of  imparting  the  truths  of  this  recreated  science.  Against  much  oppo- 
sition, in  spite  of  many  drawbacks,  he  fought  his  way.  Others  began  to  see 
the  light  that  he  had  seen  and  were  eager  to  learn  of  him.  To  hospital 
internes,  to  medical  students,  to  doctors,  to  any  one  who  showed  a  desire  to 
learn  and  a  willingness  to  study,  he  was  glad  to  talk  of  things  surgical  and 
pathological.  He  sacrificed  leisure  and  pleasure  that  he  might  help  them. 

"The  value  of  this  work  is  incalculable,  and  only  appreciated  by  those 
who  know  the  conditions  existing  twenty-five  years  ago  and  the  difficulties 
he  encountered  in  his  endeavors  to  spread  the  new  knowledge.  This  is  really 
Fenger's  great  work.  He  is  revered  as  the  father  of  scientific  surgery  in 
the  Northwest,  and  with  Senn  in  experimental  work  aroused  this  section  of 
the  country  so  that  now  there  has  grown  up  a  group  of  well-known  younger 
men,  who  freely  acknowledge  that  the  right  impetus  to  study  was  given  them 
by  this  remarkable  man.  When  the  intellectual  history  of  Chicago  comes  to 
be  written,  high  among  the  great  names  will  be  that  of  Christian  Fenger. 

"It  is  a  cause  for  congratulation  that  Dr.  Fenger's  friends  and  admirers 
let  him  and  the  world  know  of  the  esteem  and  love  in  which  he  was  held. 
His  colleagues  among  the  Scandinavian  colony  in  Chicago  looked  up  to  him 
as  their  honored  leader,  were  proud  of  him  and  at  every  meeting  of  their 
medical  society,  whether  he  were  present  or  not,  drank  the  health  of  Christian 
Fenger.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  the  president  of  the  Chicago  Medical 
Society,  and  for  the  second  time  of  the  Chicago  Surgical  Society.  On  No- 
vember 3,  1900,  the  medical  profession  of  the  country  gave  him  a  dinner,  the 


38  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

occasion  being  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  his  birth.  Over  five  hundred  physi- 
cians attended.  This  honor  was  deeply  appreciated  by  Dr.  Fenger.  But  no 
testimonial,  no  office  of  honor,  was  a  more  eloquent  tribute  to  this  man's  char- 
acter than  the  gathering  at  the  funeral  services.  It  is  doubtful  if  so  great  a 
number  of  physicians  have  ever  before  come  together  in  Chicago  for  such  a 
purpose.  The  sad  faces  of  his  colleagues,  and  the  tear-dimmed  eyes  of  the 
long  line  of  men  and  women,  many  of  them  his  old  patients  and  evidently  from 
the  poorer  walks  of  life,  as  they  took  a  last  look  at  this  beloved  physician, 
spoke  more  than  any  uttered  word. 

"It  seemed  as  though  he  had  several  years  of  usefulness  and  happiness 
before  him.  But  perhaps  it  is  best  that  he  should  be  cut  down  in  the  midst 
of  his  active  work,  with  his  mind  still  strong  and  vigorous,  his  eye  undimmed, 
his  hand  steady,  rather  than  that  ruthless  old  age  should  rob  him  of  any  of 
those  attributes  with  which  we  link  his  name.  His  work  was  in  reality  done. 
His  monument  is  already  erected  in  his  medical  writings,  in  the  group 
of  men  whom  he  influenced  and  aroused  to  a  higher  scientific  life,  in  the 
elevation  of  medical  thought  in  the  Northwest,  in  the  example  of  an  untiring 
devotion  to  truth,  in  the  love  that  is  left  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  him/' 

A  list  of  Dr.  Fenger's  best  known  works  (some  of  which  have  been 
prepared  in  collaboration  with  others)  is  appended: 

"Om  Endoscopie  af  Urethra,"  Hospitals  Tidendc,  14  Aargang,  S.  25 
1870;  "Ueber  Endoskopie  der  Schusswunden,"  Wiener  mcdicinische  IVoch- 
enschrift,  1871,  No.  25;  "Beretning  om  422  Sektioner,  Foretagne  i  Kom- 
munehospitalet  i  Kobenhaven  i  Tidsrummet  fra  i  September,  1871,  til  i  Sep- 
tember, 1872,"  44pp.  8vo.,  Nordiskt  Mcdicinisk  Arkiv,  1872;  "Om  den  lokale 
Behandling  af  den  kroniske  Gonorre  og  den  gonorroiske  Revmatisme  ved 
Hjalp  af  Endoskopet,"  22pp.  i  pi.  8vo.,  Nordiskt  Mcdicinisk  Arkiv,  Vol. 
IV,  No.  27,  1872;  "Om  den  partielle  Hydronefrose,  oplyst  ved  et  Sydomstil- 
falde,"  I2pp.,  8vo.,  Nordiskt  Medicinisk  Arkiv,  Vol.  IV,  1872;  "Stenose  af 
ostium  pulmonale  og  arteria  pulmonalis,  forarsaget  ved  Vegetationer  pa  Pul- 
monalklapperne  og  i  Arterior,  oplyst  ved  et  Sygdomstilfalde,"  iSpp.  i  pi. 
8vo.,  Nordiskt  Mcdicinisk  Arkiv,  Stockholm,  1873,  Vol.  V;  "Om  Maver- 
kraeft,  navnlig  i  Henseende  til  Bygning,  Udvikling  og  Udbredning"  (Cancer 
of  the  stomach,  development  and  diffusion),  2pl.  I46pp.  8vo.,  Kjobenhavn, 
W.  Prior,  1874;  "Report  on  Epizootic  of  Horses  to  Sanitary  Council  of 
Egypt,"  1876.  In  collaboration  with  J.  H.  Salisbury — "Diffuse  Alultiple  Ca- 
pillary Fatembolism  of  the  Lungs  and  Brain,  as  Fatal  Complication  in  Com- 
mon Fractures,  Illustrated  by  a  Case,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Exam- 
iner, 1879,  XXXIX,  587-595.  The  following  in  collaboration  with  E.  W. 
Lee — "Ruptures  of  the  Subpubic  Portion  of  the  Urethra,"  Chicago  Medical 
Gazette,  1880,  I,  63-68;  "Tuberculosis  of  Joints,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  39 

and  Examiner,  1880,  XL,  465-491 ;  "Tuberculosis  of  Joints,  with  Three 
Cases  of  Excision,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  1880,  XLI, 
7-34;  "Tracheotomy  in  Croup  and  Diphtheria,  with  Cases,"  Chicago  Medical 
Journal  and  Examiner,  1880,  XLI,  337-347  (read  before  the  Illinois  State 
Medical  Society).  In  collaboration  with  A.  Hinde^— "The  Endoscope  in  the 
Local  Treatment  of  Chronic  Gonorrhoea,  or  Gleet  and  Gonorrhoeal  Rheu- 
matism," Chicago  Medical  Review,  1880,  II,  536-546.  "Trichinosis,  Report 
of  Two  Cases,"  Chicago  Medical  Reviczv,  1881,  III,  208-212;  "Perforation, 
without  Fracture,  of  the  Femur,  by  a  Thirty-two  Caliber  Ball ;  the  Femoral 
Vein  Ligatured,"  Hospital  Clinic — Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner, 

1881,  XLII,  495;  "Removal  of  Loose  Cartilage  from  the  Knee- Joint,  and 
Use  of  Absorbable  Drainage-tubes,"  Hospital  Clinic — Chicago  Medical  Jour- 
nal and  Examiner,  1881,  XLII,  494.     In  collaboration  with  E.  W.  Lee — 
"Nerve-stretching;  Illustrated  by  Cases  from  the  Hospital  Service  and  Pri- 
vate Practice,"  Journal  of  Nervous  and  Mental  Diseases,  N.  Y.,  1881,  N.  S., 
VI,  263-304.    In  collaboration  with  J.  H.  Hollister — "Opening  and  Drainage 
of  Cavities  in  the  Lungs,"  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Phila- 
delphia, 1881,  N.  S.,  LXXXII,  370-392.    In  collaboration  with  E.  W.  Lee— 
"Opening  and  Drainage  of  Large  Joints  in  Suppurative  Synovitis,  Illustrated 
by  Cases,"  Gaillard's  Medical  Journal,  N.  Y.,  1882,  XXXIII,  201-210.     "Su- 
pra-malleolar  Osteotomy  for  Outward  Deviation  of  the  Foot,  Subsequent  to 
Pott's  Fracture  Healed  up  in  a  Bad  Position,"  Medical  News,  Philadelphia, 

1882,  XL,  398-427.    In  collaboration  with  E.  W.  Lee — "Six  Cases  of  Aneur- 
ism," Gaillard's  Medical  Journal,  N.  Y.,   1882,  XXIV,   1-17.     "The  Thor- 
acoplastic  Operation  of  Estlander ;  Multiple  and  Extensive  Resection  of  the 
Ribs  over  Old  and  Intractable  Empyema  Cavities,  as  a  Means  to  Effect  their 
Closure,"  Medical  Ncia's,  Philadelphia,   1882,  XLI,  337-343;  "Report  of  a 
Case  of  Penetrating  Wound  of  the  Abdomen  and  Small  Intestine."  Clinical 
Lecture — Chicago  Medical  Review,  1882,  V,  11-14;  "The  Total  Extirpation 
of    the    Uterus    through    the    Vagina,"    American  Journal  of  the  Medical 
Sciences,  Philadelphia,  1882,  N.  S.,  LXXXIII,  17-47;  "Supposed  Poisoning 
by  Bromide  of  Potassium;  an  Autopsy  Lecture,"  Chicago  Medical  Review, 
1882,  V,  40-43;  "Venous  Angioma  of  the  Face;  Report  of  a  Case,"  Chicago 
Medical  Review,   1882,  V,   161.     In  collaboration  with   E.   W.   Lee — "On 
Opening  and  Drainage  of  Abscess  Cavities  in  the  Brain ;  Illustrated  by  a 
Case,"  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Philadelphia,  1884,  N.  S., 
LXXXVIII,   17-30.     "On  Surgical  Treatment  of  Gangrene  of  the  Lungs," 
Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,    1884,   III,  62-68; 
"Remarks  on  the  Operation  of  Excision  of  Hip  and  Knee-joints,"  Chicago 
Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  1884,  XLI,  289-320;  "Excision  of  Hip  and 
Knee-joints,  with  Exhibition  of  Patients,"  Transactions,  Illinois  Medical  So- 


40  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

ciety,  Chicago,  1884,  XXXIV,  330-357;  "Chronic  Peri-uterine  Abscess  and 
its  Treatment  by  Laparotomy,"  Annals  of  Surgery,  St.  Louis,  1885,  I,  393- 
423 ;  "Report  to  the  Gynecological  Society  of  Chicago  on  two  cases  of 
Extrauterine  Pregnancy  from  Examination  of  the  Specimens,"  Chicago  Med- 
ical Journal  and  Examiner,  1885,  I,  211-226;  "Remarks  on  Laparotomy  as 
Compared  with  Other  Operations,"  Chicago  Gynecological  Society — Amer- 
ican Journal  of  Obstetrics,  New  York,  1886,  XIX,  428-432.  In  collaboration 
with  B.  Holmes — "Antisepsis  in  Abdominal  Operations ;  Synopsis  of  a  Series 
of  Bacteriological  Studies,"  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
Chicago,  1887,  IX,  444-470.  "A  New  Kolpoplastic  Operation  for  Atresia  or 
Defect  of  the  Vagina,"  Transactions,  American  Surgical  Association,  Phila- 
delphia, 1887,  V,  275-383;  "The  Osteoplastic  Resection  of  the  Foot,  as  De- 
vised by  Wladimiroff  and  Miculicz,"  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, Chicago,  1887,  VIII,  113-121;  "Vertebral  Arterial  Ligation  in  Ver- 
tebral Aneurism,"  Medical  Standard,  Chicago,  1887,  I,  33-35;  "Remarks  on 
Dermoid  Cysts  of  the  Ovary,  with  Illustrations  from  Specimens,"  Chicago 
Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  1887,  IV,  381-387;  "The  Operative  Treat- 
ment of  Retroperitoneal  Cysts  in  Connection  with  Miculicz's  Method  of 
Drainage,"  Chicago  Gynecological  Society — Journal  of  the  American  Med- 
ical Association,  Chicago,  1887,  VIII,  568-571;  "Vaginal  Hysterectomy;  the 
Actual  Status  of  the  Operation  and  Report  of  Four  Cases,"  Chicago  Medical 
Journal  and  Examiner,  1887,  LV,  367-379;  "Living  and  Dead  Osteomas  of 
the  Nasal  and  its  Accessory  Cavities;  Illustrated  by  a  Case  of  Encysted 
Orbital  Osteoma  Originating  in  the  Ethmoid  Bone.  Presentation  of  Speci- 
mens," Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,  1888,  XI, 
185-190;  "Fibro-cysto-sarcoma  of  the  Uterus  (removal  by  Laparotomy)." 
Chicago  Gynecological  Society — Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, Chicago,  1888,  XI,  1604-6;  "Colloid  Carcinoma  of  the  Caecum,"  Jour- 
nal of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,  1888,  XI,  606;  "Double 
Carcinoma  of  the  Colon,"  Ibid.,  606;  "A  Case  of  Traumatic  Cyst  of  the  Pan- 
creas. Reported  by  A.  Holmbo,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner, 

1888,  LVI,  74-77;  "Extirpation  of  the  Rectum,"  Medical  Standard,  Chicago, 

1889,  VI,  1-3;  "Primary  Carcinoma  of  the  Kidney,"  Journal  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  Chicago,  1889,  XII,  903-905;  "Renal  Calculus,"  Ibid., 
905 ;  "Tuberculosis  of  Bones  and  Joints,"  Journal  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  Chicago,  1889,  XIII,  587-596;  "Carcinoma  of  the  Cervical  Re- 
gion; Operation;  Two  Secondary  Hemorrhages;  Recovery,"  Surgical  Clinic, 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons ;  "Excision  of  the  Head  of  the  Humerus 
for  Old  Dislocation,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  1889,  LVIII, 
95 ;  "Rupture  of  the  Kidney,"  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
Chicago,   1889,   XI,   901-903;   "Operative  Treatment  of  Carcinoma  of  the 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  41 

Rectum,"  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter,  Philadelphia,  1890,  LXIII,  311- 
313;  "Ovariotomy  during  Pregnancy,"  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  New 
York,  1891,  XXIV,  1097-1107;  "A  Case  of  Elephantiasis  of  the  Scrotum; 
with  Remarks  on  its  Operative  Treatment,"  American  Journal  of  the  Medical 
Sciences,  Philadelphia,  October,  1891,  N.  S.,  CII,  352-361;  "The  Operative 
Treatment  of  Extrauterine  Pregnancy  at  or  near  Term,  with  Report  of  a 
Case,"  read  before  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  May  20,  1891 — Journal 
of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,  1891,  XVI,  879-885;  "A 
New  Operation  for  Hare-lip,"  read  before  the  American  Medical  Association, 
1891 — Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,  1891,  XVII, 
176-180;  "The  Vaginal  Operation  in  Extrauterine  Pregnancy,"  American 
Journal  Obstetrics,  New  York,  1891,  XXIV,  418;  "Oxalate  Calculus  in  Pel- 
vis of  Left  Kidney,"  Chicago  Clinical  Review,  1892-3,  I,  276-381 ;  "Remarks 
on  Appendicitis,"  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  New  York,  1893,  XXVIII, 
166-199;  "Total  Extirpation  of  the  Vagina  for  Carcinoma,"  American  Jour- 
nal of  Obstetrics,  New  York,  1893,  XXXII,  218-234;  "Demonstration  of 
Specimens  from  Operations  on  the  Kidney,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder, 
1893,  IV,  155-170;  "On  Hyperplastic  Salpingitis  and  its  Operative  Treat- 
ment by  Drainage,"  read  before  the  International  Gynecological  Congress, 
Brussels,  1892 — Medical  Record,  June  3,  1893-1894;  "Surgery  of  the  Ure- 
ter," Annals  of  Surgery,  Philadelphia,  August,  1894,  and  read  before  the 
American  Surgical  Association,  1894;  "Operation  for  the  Relief  of  Valve- 
formation  and  Stricture  of  the  Ureter  in  Hydro  or  Pyo-Nephrosis,"  Journal 
of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,  1894,  XXII,  335-343;  "Be- 
nignant Tumors  of  the  Ileum,"  Chicago  Clinical  Reviczv,  December,  1894; 
"Basal  Hernias  of  the  Brain,"  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences, 
January,  1895;  "Conservative  Operative  Treatment  of  Sacculated  Kidney— 
Cystonephrosis,"  Annals  of  Surgery,  June,  1896;  "Stones  in  the  Common 
Duct  and  Their  Surgical  Treatment,  with  Remarks  on  the  Ball-valve  Action 
of  Floating  Choledochus  Stones,"  American  Journal  of  Medical  Sciences, 
February  and  March,  1896;  "An  Operation  for  Valvular  Stricture  of  the 
Ureter,"  American  Journal  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  December,  1896;  "Reten- 
tion from  Displacement,  Bending  and  Valve- formation  (oblique  insertion)  in 
the  biliary  tract,"  Medical  Standard,  November,  December  and  January, 
1897.  In  collaboration  with  William  Hessert — "A  Case  of  Fatal  Acute  Dila- 
tation of  the  Stomach  following  Cholecystotomy,"  Clinical  Review  (Chicago), 
February,  1898,  Vol.  VII,  No.  5,  pp.  261-284.  "Remarks  on  Surgery  of  the 
Bile  Ducts,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  April,  1898.  In  collaboration  with  S. 
C.  Stanton — "Diseases  of  the  Ureter,"  An  American  Text-Book  of  Genito- 
Urinary  Diseases,  Syphilis  and  Diseases  of  the  Skin,  1898,  pp.  470-542.  "En- 
tero-Plastic  Operation  to  Overcome  or  Prevent  Stenosis,  with  Special  Refer- 


42  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

ence  to  the  Spur  in  Preternatural  Anus,"  American  Journal  of  the  Medical 
Sciences,  April,  1899;  "Eversion  or  Turning  Inside-Out  of  the  Sac  of  a 
Cystonephrosis  as  an  Aid  in  Operating  upon  the  Renal  End  of  the  Ureter,  and 
upon  the  Partition  Walls  Between  Dilated  Calices,"  American  Journal  of 
Medical  Sciences,  July,  1899;  "Diseases  of  the  Kidney,  Amenable  to  Surgical 
Treatment,"  Dominion  Medical  Monthly  and  Ontario  Medical  Journal,  Vol. 
XIII,  No.  5,  1899;  and  "Surgery  of  the  Kidney."  International  Text-Book 
of  Surgery,  1900,  Vol.  n,  pp.  575-609. 


ELIJAH   D.  HARMON,  M.  D. 

Elijah  D.  Harmon,  M.  D.,  of  Chicago,  Illinois,  was  born  in  Bennington, 
Vermont,  August  20,  1782,  and  died  in  the  former  city  in  1869.  He  com- 
menced the  practice  of  medicine  in  Burlington,  Vermont,  in  1806,  and  was  a 
volunteer  surgeon  on  board  the  "Saratoga,"  commanded  by  Commodore  Mc- 
Donough,  during  the  celebrated  naval  battle  near  Plattsburg,  September  u, 
1814.  After  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  he  returned  to  resume  his  practice 
in  Burlington.  In  1808  he  was  married  to  Miss  Welthyan  Loomis. 

In  1829,  Dr.  Harmon  determined  to  seek  a  new  home  in  the  West,  and 
arrived  at  Fort  Dearborn  in  May,  1830,  and  in  the  absence  of  Assistant  Sur- 
geon Finley  he  served  as  medical  officer  of  the  garrison,  and  also  attended  to 
private  practice.  His  family  followed  him  the  next  year,  and  took  up  their 
residence  in  a  cabin  of  hewn  logs. 

On  July  10,  1832,  a  detachment  of  United  States  troops,  designed  to 
operate  against  the  hostile  tribes  of  Indians,  arrived  under  the  command  of 
General  Scott  on  board  the  steamer.  "Sheldon  Thompson."  Unfortunately 
epidemic  cholera  had  manifested  itself  among  the  soldiers  the  day  previous  to 
the  arrival  of  the  steamer,  and  was  rapidly  spreading.  The  two  companies  of 
soldiers  previously  occupying  the  fort  were  isolated  as  far  as  practicable,  and 
remained  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Harmon.  The  disease,  however,  spread  so 
rapidly  among  the  newly  arrived  troops  that  Fort  Dearborn  speedily  became  a 
crowded  hospital  for  the  sick  and  dying,  under  the  superintendency  of  Dr.  De 
Camp,  Assistant  Surgeon,  previously  on  duty  at  Madison  Barracks.  He  had 
been  assigned  duty  at  Fort  Dearborn  by  official  order  dated  February  23, 
1832,  and  he  arrived  at  the  fort  with  Companies  G  and  I,  of  the  Second  Infan- 
try, under  the  command  of  Major  William  Whistler.  June  17,  1832,  only 
twenty-three  days  before  the  arrival  of  the  troops  of  General  Scott,  affected 
with  cholera. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  latter,  the  two  companies  under  Major  Whistler, 


PHYSICIANS  .AND    SURGEONS.  43 

were  sent  into  camp  two  miles  distant,  for  isolation  from  the  cholera  infection, 
and,  as  already  stated,  placed  under  the  medical  charge  of  Dr.  Harmon,  while 
Assistant  Surgeons  De  Camp  and  Malcomb  devoted  their  attention  most  faith- 
fully to  the  newly  arrived  suffering  troops  in  the  fort.  In  one  of  his  reports, 
Dr.  De  Camp  states  that  within  one  week  after  their  arrival,  one-fifth  of  the 
whole  force  of  one  thousand  men  were  admitted  into  the  fort  afflicted  with 
the  scourge.  The  epidemic,  though  severe,  was  of  short  duration,  and  the 
military  forces  in  a  few  weeks  resumed  their  campaign  against  the  Indians, 
and  Dr.  De  Camp  left  the  fort  during  the  following  November. 

During  the  latter  part  of  June  and  the  first  days  of  July,  1832,  the  hos- 
tile attitude  of  the  Indians,  led  by  Black  Hawk,  had  caused  many  of  the  white 
settlers  in  Northern  Illinois  and  Indiana  to  gather  at  Fort  Dearborn  for 
safety.  But  when  it  was  known  that  the  soldiers  under  General  Scott  had 
brought  the  epidemic  cholera  with  them,  not  even  the  dread  of  the  Indian  tom- 
ahawk could  deter  them  from  fleeing  from  the  scourge  with  the  utmost  pre- 
cipitancy. The  few  civilians  who  were  obliged  to  remain  found  in  Dr.  Har- 
mon a  faithful  physician  and  friend,  for  he  extended  his  services  to  soldiers 
and  citizens  alike.  He  was  the  first  medical  man  who  had  settled  at  the  post 
to  practice  his  profession  without  a  government  appointment,  and  he  appears 
to  have  been  fairly  successful.  In  the  winter  of  1832,  he  performed  the  first 
important  surgical  operation  at  what  is  now  the  city  of  Chicago,  of  which 
there  is  any  record.  It  consisted  in  the  successful  amputation  of  one  foot  and 
the  part  of  the  other  for  a  half-breed  Canadian,  whose  feet  had  been  frozen 
while  carrying  the  mail  on  horseback  from  Green  Bay  to  Chicago.  Accord- 
ing to  a  recent  medical  history  .of  that  city  written  by  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  from 
which  this  sketch  is  mainly  derived,  we  find  that  after  the  departure  of  Assist- 
ant Surgeon  De  Camp  he  was  succeeded  by  Assistant  Surgeon  Philip  Max- 
well, who  arrived  at  the  fort  February  3,  1833,  and  entered  upon  the  perform- 
ance of  his  duties.  During  the  year  1832  Drs.  Valentine  A.  Boyer,  Edward 
S.  Kimberly  and  John  T.  Temple  became  residents  of  Chicago,  and  these 
with  Dr.  Harmon  and  Assistant  Surgeon  Maxwell,  constituted  the  medical 
fraternity  of  Chicago  at  the  time  it  became  a  corporated  town,  in  August, 
1833,  with  a  total  population  of  between  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  two  hun- 
dred. Dr.  Boyer,  the  last  of  these  five  pioneer  physicians,  remained  a  resi- 
dent of  Chicago  nearly  sixty  years. 

Besides  his  family  residence,  Dr.  Harmon  pre-empted  one  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  land,  located  in  what  is  now  a  central  part  of  the  south  division 
of  the  metropolis,  and  one  of  the  streets  is  still  called  Harmon  Court  in  his 
honor.  In  1834  he  migrated  to  the  State  of  Texas,  and  subsequently  divided 
his  time  between  that  State  and  Chicago  until  his  death. 


44  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

JOHN   BARTLETT,  M.  D. 

Dr.  John  Bartlett,  the  well-known  obstetrician  of  Chicago,  who  has  de- 
voted a  lifetime  to  the  advancement  of  science,  to  the  intelligent  treatment  of 
disease,  and  to  the  elevation  of  the  medical  profession,  was  born  at  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  in  1829,  a  son  of  George  F.  and  Martha  M.  (Rogers)  Bart- 
lett, formerly  of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  and  a  grandson  of  Dr.  Josiah 
Bartlett,  of  Charlestown. 

Nurtured  in  an  atmosphere  of  books,  John  Bartlett  early  became  a  stu- 
dent. His  education  was  obtained  in  public  and  private  schools  in  Louisville, 
and  by  a  wide  range  of  select  reading.  Early  dedicated  to  the  study  of 
medicine  by  his  family  as  the  grandson  of  the  eminent  citizen  and  able  prac- 
titioner of  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  Dr.  Josiah  Bartlett,  young  Bartlett  be- 
gan his  professional  education  in  .1846,  under,  Dr.  Llewellyn  Powell,  Pro- 
fessor of  Obstetrics,  and  then  matriculated  at  the  University  of  Louis- 
ville, graduating  from  the  Medical  Department  of  that  then  famous  school 
in  1850.  During  his  entire  course  of  study  he  had  been  interested  in  Obstet- 
rics, and  along  that  line  he  had  made  special  investigation,  and  by  the  time 
he  received  his  degree  of  M.  D.  had  made  for  himself  a  name  among  his 
fellow  students  and  instructors  because  of  his  familiarity  with  that  most  in- 
teresting subject.  His  life  has  been  devoted  to  his  profession,  and  he  has 
been  connected  at  various  times  with  hospitals  in  Louisville  and  Chicago  as 
Consulting  Physician  or  Obstetrician.  In  1862  he  came  to  Chicago,  where  he 
has  since  engaged  in  general  practice.  Since  the  great  fire  in  1871  he  has 
been  located  on  the  North  Side. 

An  intelligent  thinker,  a  sagacious  reasoner,  an  untiring  student  and  a 
careful  investigator,  Dr.  Bartlett's  place  in  the  medical  world  has  been  unques- 
tioned. Too  broad  for,  the  petty  jealousy  that  so  often  mars  the  professional 
careers  of  many  men,  he  has  welcomed  and  assisted  the  less  fortunate  over  the 
thorny  path  to  success,  and  in  the  benign  charity  of  his  gentle  life  has  inspired 
the  deeper  love  and  reverence  of  his  associates.  Dignified  in  his  bearing,  he 
commands  respect  of  strangers,  yet  so  simple  is  his  manner  that  he  is  easily 
approached.  He  has  been  president  of  the  Chicago  Society  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  and  of  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society. 

The  literature  of  the  profession  has  been  enhanced  by  many  papers  from 
the  pen  of  Dr.  Bartlett.  Among  the  more  important  of  these  may  be  named : 
"A  Review  of  Pasteur's  Book  on  the  Silkworm  Epidemic  Pebrine,  with  Reflec- 
tions on  the  Analogy  of  the  Disorder  to  Certain  Diseases  of  the  Human  Sub- 
ject," Chicago  Medical  Society,  November,  1876;  "The  Cervix  Uteri,  Before, 
During  and  After  Labor,"  Chicago  Society  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  July, 
1873;  "The  True  Site  and  Probable  Causes  of  Placenta  Prsevia,"  Chicago 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  45 

Society  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  December,  1875;  "A  New  Method  of 
Treatment  of  Placenta  Praevia,"  Chicago  Medical  Society,  Decem- 
ber, 1878;  "Artificial  Placental  Respiration,"  Chicago  Society  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  November,  1872;  "A  Consideration  of 
Some  of  the  Errors  Incident  to  the  Ordinary  Methods  of  Determin- 
ing the  Relative  Lengths  of  the  Lower  Extremities,"  Chicago  Medical  So- 
ciety, March,  1878;  "A  Theory  of  the  Cholera,"  read  before  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society,  August,  1884;  "Proposed  Modification  of  Porro's  Opera- 
tion," Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  June,  1886;  "A  Case  of  Placenta 
Pnevia,  in  which  the  Placenta  was  Expanded  over  the  Entire  Ovum,"  Chi- 
cago Gynecological  Society,  June,  1886;  "A  Study  of  Daventer's  Method  of 
Delivering  the  After  Coming  Head,"  International  Medical  Congress,  Wash- 
ington, 1887;  "Observations  on  Intubation,  by  a  General  Practitioner," 
Chicago  Clinical  Revieiv,  January  to  June,  1895;  "The  Vectis,"  Clinical  Re- 
view, November,  1900;  "Paul  Portal,  his  True  Place  in  the  Literature  of 
Placenta  Praevia,"  Clinical  Review,  July,  1901. 

Of  Dr.  Bartlett,  Dr.  Henry  T.  Byford  writes :  "Dr.  John  Bartlett  never 
sought  public  positions,  but  he  is  nevertheless  one  of  the  most  scholarly  and 
scientific  practitioners  Chicago  has  produced.  His  writings  are  numerous, 
and  constitute  proofs  of  his  extended  knowledge  and  great  practical  attain- 
ment in  obstetrics.  He  figured  prominently  in  the  early  proceedings  of  the 
Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  and  his  work  forms  a  creditable  part  of  the 
Obstetric  History  of  Chicago." 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  writes :  "Dr.  John  Bartlett  is  one  of  the  older  and 
most  honorable  practitioners  of  medicine  still  living  in  Chicago.  He  is  an 
excellent  example  of  the  enlightened,  dignified,  and  thoroughly  rational  gen- 
eral practitioner  of  medicine.  Many  years  since,  when  the  attention  of  the 
profession  had  been  directed  to  fungi  on  living  vegetable  growths  as  the  cause 
of  malarious  fevers,  Dr.  Bartlett  devoted  considerable  time  in  original  investi- 
gations relating  to  that  subject.  He  has  been  throughout  his  professional 
career  an  industrious  student,  an  active  and  honorable  member  of  the  local, 
State  and  National  Medical  Societies,  and  is  still  Consulting  Obstetrician  to 
three  or  four  of  the  public  hospitals  in  the  city." 


46  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

DE  LASKIE  MILLER,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  PH.  D. 

The  long  life  of  this  distinguished  member  of  the  profession  was  one 
alike  of  activity  and  success.  When  he  passed  away,  in  July,  1903,  at  the  ven- 
erable age  of  eighty-five  years,  he  was  spending  his  declining  years  in  rest, 
peaceful,  richly  earned  and  well  merited.  Apropos  of  his  retirement  from  act- 
ive professional  work,  his  eminent  colleague  in  the  profession,  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis,  Sr.,  had  this  to  say :  "Dr.  Miller,  now  retired  from  the  active  duties 
of  the  practitioner,  was  for  many  years  extensively  and  successfully  engaged 
in  general  practice  and  in  the  teaching  of  obstetrics  in  Rush  Medical  College. 
During  all  his  medical  career  he  remained  a  diligent  student,  a  prompt  and 
faithful  attendant  upon  the  sick,  a  plain,  practical  teacher  of  the  obstetric  art, 
a  supporter  of  medical  society  organizations,  an  upright  citizen  and  a  faithful 
friend.  In  his  retirement — because  of  old  age — he  enjoys  the  cordial  friend- 
ship and  hearty  respect  of  the  entire  profession  and  of  all  good  citizens." 

The  story  of  Dr.  Miller's  life  is  full  of  interest  to  the  general  (even  non- 
professional)  reader,  while  it  abounds  in  lessons  of  instruction  and  encour- 
agement for  his  younger  brethren,  who,  standing  on  the  threshold  of  their 
professional  career,  would  seek  to  emulate  his  example  and  follow  in  his  foot- 
steps. He  was  born  in  Niagara  county,  New  York,  on  May  29,  1818,  and 
until  his  seventeenth  year  was  engaged  in  the  hard,  generally  outdoor,  work 
of  a  farm.  Here  he  laid,  broad  and  deep,  the  foundations  of  that  rugged 
physical  strength  which  distinguished  him  through  life.  He  proved  an  apt 
pupil  at  the  district  schools,  which  he  attended  during  the  winter  months, 
and  for  several  terms  his  acknowledged  qualifications  caused  the  position  of 
teacher  to  be  proffered  him.  This  post  he  accepted  from  time  to  time,  always 
discharging  its  incumbent  duties  with  ability,  fidelity  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  taxpayers.  His  vocation,  however,  was  for  the  study  of  medicine,  and 
this  fact  dawned  upon  him  early  in  life.  The  task  which  confronted  him  was 
no  easy  one,  but  he  was  greatly  encouraged  in  perseverance  by  the  kindly 
interest  of  his  first  preceptor,  Dr.  Thomas  G.  Catlin.  For  four  years  he 
taught  school  in  winter,  for  a  mere  stipend,  his  summers  being  spent  either  as 
salesman  in  a  general  country  store,  or  as  an  underpaid  clerk  in  a  rural  post 
office.  No  doubt  the  time  dragged  heavily,  and  at  times  his  purpose  may  have 
faltered  and  his  resolution  flagged,  but  in  i84O-'4i  he  attended  lectures  at 
the  Albany  Medical  College,  and  in  1842  graduated  from  the  school  at  Ge- 
neva. He  began  practice  at  Lockport,  New  York,  and  removed  thence  to 
Flint,  Michigan.  His  success  there  may  be  said  to  have  been  extraordinary, 
yet  it  was  certainly  attributable  to  his  own  professional  skill,  no  less  than  to 
his  broad,  enlightened  public  spirit,  which  brought  him  to  the  front  rank  of 
those  who  were  leaders  in  all  movements  tending  to  the  betterment  of  the 


Cxfori  Pui  Co 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  47 

community,  his  sympathetic  and  active  interest  in  educational  matters  being 
especially  pronounced. 

In  the  autumn  of  1852  Dr.  Miller  came  from  Flint  to  Chicago,  where  he 
at  once  secured  an  enviable  foothold  among  the  young  physicians  of  the  infant 
"Western  Metropolis."  Two  years  after  his  arrival  the  city  was  visited  by  the 
scourge  of  cholera.  This  was  in  1854,  and  it  was  in  that  year  that  the  first 
general  hospital  in  Chicago  was  established,  largely — if  not  chiefly — through 
,  the  personal  efforts  of  Rev.  Robert  H.  Clarkson,  rector  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  of  St.  James,  afterward  Bishop  of  Nebraska,  Dr.  Miller 
being  appointed  physician  and  surgeon  in  charge. 

Talents  such  as  his  could  not  be  long  concealed  "under  a  bushel,"  and  in 
1859  the  trustees  of  Rush  Medical  College,  recognizing  his  exceptional  skill 
and  conscientious  professional  devotion,  tendered  him  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics 
and  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children.  The  proffer  was  accepted  and  he  filled 
the  Chair  for  thirty  years.  He  was  ever  a  professional  enthusiast,  and  in 
1863,  feeling  dissatisfied  with  the  illustrative  resources  at  his  command,  he 
visited  Europe,  where  he  gathered  new  data,  which  he  found  of  great  value  in 
his  lectures.  And  here,  perhaps,  may  be  most  appropriately  quoted  the  high 
tribute  which  Dr.  Henry  M.  Lyman,  himself  one  of  Chicago's  most  eminent 
instructors  in  medical  science,  ungrudgingly  paid  to  the  great  man  a  short 
time  before  his  life  drew  to  a  close:  "Dr.  De  Laskie  Miller  was  a  professor 
in  Rush  Medical  College  for  many  years,  and  the  clearest  and  most  eloquent 
teacher  of  obstetrics  in  Chicago.  He  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative  practice, 
which  gave  him  unrivalled  opportunities  for  the  study  of  this  branch  of 
medicine." 

His  skill  and  research  soon  won  for  him  an  enviable,  as  well  as  a  lasting, 
reputation  throughout  the  West,  and  professional  honors  were  not  slow  in 
following,  one  almost  upon  the  heels  of  another.  In  1881  he  was  chosen  a  del- 
egate to  the  Seventh  International  Medical  Congress,  which  convened  at 
London,  England.  Six  years  later  the  ninth  gathering  of  the  same  sort  was 
held  at  Washington,  and  at  this  Congress  Dr.  Miller  was  honored  by  being 
made  president  of  the  Obstetrical  Section  of  that  body  of  distinguished  med- 
ical savants.  Two  years  later — in  1889,  when  the  Doctor  was  in  his  seventy- 
second  year — Rush  Medical  College  paid  him  the  high  honor  of  election  to  an 
Emeritus  Professorship,  and  the  Presidency  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  Five 
years  later  (in  1894)  some  of  his  admirers  presented  the  college  with  his 
portrait,  and  on  the  occasion  of  its  unveiling  Prof.  John  B.  Hamilton,  whose 
fame  extends  over  two  continents,  paid  him  a  tribute  as  glowing  as  it  was 
well  deserved.  In  the  course  of  his  eloquent  address  of  acceptance  on  behalf 
of  the  Faculty,  Dr.  Hamilton  said :  "We  accept  this  faithful  representation 
of  an  ideal  teacher,  an  accomplished  obstetrician,  a  scholar,  a  sagacious  conn- 


48  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

selor  and  a  patriotic  citizen.  Prof.  De  Laskie  Miller  has  been  identified  with 
Rush  Medical  College  almost  from  its  beginning,  and  although  still  vigorous 
in  mind  and  body,  he  has  been  actively  associated  with  every  movement  which, 
step  by  step,  has  placed  this  college  in  the  advance  rank  of  American  insti- 
tutions. His  early  career  as  an  American  journalist,  and  his  presidency  of  the 
section  of  obstetrics  of  the  International  Medical  Congress  at  Washington, 
extended  a  knowledge  of  his  worth  and  ability  beyond  the  confines  of  his 
city  and  to  other  lands,  for  at  the  close  of  that  now  historic  congress  he  had 
acquired  friends  and  admirers  almost  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

In  this  connection  may  be  cited  an  extract  from  the  college  paper,  Pulse, 
which  showed  plainly — even  unmistakably — the  tendency  of  his  influence 
upon  his  pupils:  "In  his  personal  interviews  with  medical  students  he  has 
always  discouraged  their  usual  haste  in  obtaining  their  degree  of  'M.  D.',  and 
urged  them  to  take  all  the  time  possible  before  graduating,  regardless  of  the 
requirements  of  the  college,  that  they  might  become  the  better  qualified  for 
practice  when  they  should  enter  the  profession." 

Of  his  profound  ability  as  a  lecturer,  which  was  always  joined  to  per- 
spicacity and  simplicity  of  diction,  Dr.  Ephraim  Ingals  has  said :  "As  a  lec- 
turer and  with  students  Dr.  Miller  is  popular."  And  to  this  he  adds,  in 
speaking  of  his  general  character  as  a  physician  and  a  man,  this  panegyric : 
"He  was  always  a  faithful  family  physician  and  one  of  Chicago's  foremost 
practitioners.  Prior  to  his  retirement  from  professional  work  he  had  the  larg- 
est and  most  select  obstetrical  practice  in  the  city  of  which  he  has  long  been 
a  distinguished  ornament.  A  gentleman  of  the  highest  honor  and  strictest 
integrity,  he  has  ever  enjoyed  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  patients  and 
his  professional  brethren." 

Dr.  Miller  was  long  connected  with  St.  Luke's  Hospital  as  Obstetrician, 
and  held  the  same  position  on  the  staffs  of  the  Cook  County,  Presbyterian 
and  Michael  Reese  Hospitals;  and  served  as  Consulting  Physician  to  the 
Woman's  Hospital,  the  Home  for  the  Friendless  and  the  Hospital  for  In- 
curables. During  his  long  and  distinguished  career  he  was  connected  with 
many  professional  and  other  organizations.  Among  those  of  the  first  men- 
tioned class  are  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Illinois  State  Medical, 
the  Chicago  Medical,  Chicago  Gynecological  and  Chicago  Medico-Legal  So- 
cieties, while  he  was  also  a  life  member  of  the  British  Gynecological  Society, 
of  London,  England.  Of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society  he  was  president  as 
early  as  1856,  and  held  the  same  office  in  the  local  gynecological  society  in 
1881.  In  1886  Hobart  College  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  A.  M.,  honoris 
causa,  and  he  also  received  the  degree  of  Ph.  D.,  from  Butler  University.  In 
the  Masonic  fraternity  he  attained  the  highest  honors,  having  received  the 
Knights  Templar  degree  of  the  York  Rite,  the  thirty-third  degree  of  the  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  Scottish  Rite,  and  having  been  also  an  honorary  member 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  49 

of  the  Ancient  Ebor  Preceptory  of  York,  England.  He  was  made  Director  of 
the  Medical  Staff  of  the  conclave  of  Knights  Templars  held  in  Chicago  in 
1880,  and  accompanied  Apollo  Conmandery  on  its  European  pilgrimage,  in 
the  summer  of  1883,  in  the  same  capacity.  From  active  participation  in  the 
affairs  of  the  order,  as  well  as  those  of  all  other  societies  of  which  he  was  for 
many  years  an  honored  member,  Dr.  Miller  withdrew  toward  the  latter  part 
of  his  life;  while  the  institutions  with  which  he  was  long  connected  deplored 
the  loss  of  his  inspiring  presence  and  wisely  directed  labors.  His  physical 
strength,  nevertheless,  was  wonderful,  in  view  of  his  advanced  age.  He  was 
ever  careful  of  his  health,  and  always  had  a  deep  and  abiding  faith  in  the 
therapeutic  power  of  fresh  air  and  healthful,  outdoor  exercise.  His  face  bore 
a  strong  resemblence  to  that  of  the  great  surgeon  Agnew,  but  showed  both 
finer  lines  and  greater  force.  He  was  amiable  in  disposition,  genial  in  tem- 
perament, clean  and  wholesome  in  mind,  and  a  faithful  friend. 

His  brother  physicians  held  him  in  high  esteem.  Of  him  Dr.  Henry  T. 
Byford  writes :  "A  higher  type  of  gentleman  or  a  better  teacher  of  obstetrics 
than  Dr.  DeLaskie  Miller,  Chicago  has  hardly  seen,  and  the  city  suffered  an 
appreciable  loss  when  he  retired  from  active  work  in  the  profession.  At  pres- 
ent he  is  beloved  and  respected  by  us  all,  and  although  too  modest  to  achieve 
the  recognition  he  deserved,  his  name  will  be  preserved  in  the  records  of 
Chicago's  rapid  and  great  development  as  one  of  the  select  few." 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  writes :  "Dr.  Miller,  now  retired  from  the  active 
duties  of  his  profession,  was  for  many  years  an  extensive  and  successful  gen- 
eral practitioner,  and  a  teacher  of  obstetrics  in  Rush  Medical  College.  Dur- 
ing all  his  active  career  he  remained  a  diligent  student,  a  prompt  and  faithful 
attendant  upon  the  sick,  a  plain  practical  teacher  of  the  Obstetric  Art,  a  sup- 
porter of  medical  society  organizations,  a  genial,  faithful  citizen  and  a  stead- 
fast friend.  In  his  retirement  from  old  age,  he  enjoys  the  cordial  friendship 
and  respect  of  the  whole  profession  and  of  all  our  citizens." 


HOSMER  ALLEN  JOHNSON,  M.  D. 

Hosmer  Allen  Johnson,  M.  D.,  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  a  town  called 
Wales,  near  Buffalo,  New  York,  October  22,  1822,  and  died  at  his  home,  in 
the  winter  of  1891.  He  lived  in  his  native  village  until  about  ten  years  of  age, 
enjoying  those  advantages  of  early  boy  life  which  spring  from  a  home  filled 
with  elevating  influences,  and  from  contact  with  the  phenomena  of  rural 
nature. 

It  was  interesting  to  note  how  this  early  study  of  the  beautiful  acted  like  a 


5o  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

lofty  education,  and  impressed  itself  on  the  whole  tone  of  the  mind.  Near  his 
early  home  there  is  a  hill  range  of  considerable  height.  Its  rocks  are  carved  by 
streams  into  gorges,  decorated  with  mosses  and  wild  flowers  and  crowned 
with  woods.  Here  the  boy  Hosmer  Johnson  used  to  wander  and  climb,  study- 
ing the  beauty  of  the  views,  and  filling  his  memory  with  pictures  which  tinted 
all  his  life,  and  were  never  effaced  by  the  larger  views  of  other  regions.  Here 
lie  learned  to  love  Nature,  and  to  realize  how  its  magnificence  typifies  the 
glory  of  its  Creator.  These  sentiments  never  died  out.  On  the  contrary  they 
strengthened  with  his  growth,  and  helped  to  form  in  him  that  pure  and  ele- 
vated taste  which  gave  such  a  charm  to  his  whole  career. 

It  was  this  which  caused  him  to  select  a  scientific  profession,  as  well  as 
to  study  Nature  for  a  recreation.  He  traversed  wild  rivers  in  a  canoe,  sleeping 
in  the  forests;  he  climbed  the  White  Mountains,  on  foot,  and,  rolling  himself 
in  a  blanket,  slept  under  the  stars,  with  a  friend  or  two  at  his  side.  The  same 
feeling  led  him  to  explore  Switzerland,  California,  Colorado  and  the  mountains 
about  Puget's  Sound. 

These  memories  prompted  him  when  he  assisted  to  found  the  Chicago 
Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  Astronomical  Society,  as  well  as  the  Historical 
Society,  and  led  him  to  say  and  do  all  he  could  to  encourage  the  study  of 
natural  objects.  Such  results  are  worthy  of  thought  at  a  period  when  the 
growth  of  cities  is  more  and  more  shutting  men  out  of  Nature.  Perhaps,  if  we 
could  bring  more  children  under  the  influences  which  molded  the  youth  of 
Johnson,  we  would  have  more  such  men  in  after  life. 

At  the  age  of  about  twelve  years,  he  removed  to  Almont,  Michigan,  and 
helped  cut  a  farm  out  of  the  woods,  at  a  time  when  wolves  and  Indians  were  far 
more  abundant  than  civilized  beings.  During  this  period  an  attack  of  sickness 
left  him  with  an  irritation  of  the  bronchial  tubes  which  never  fully  left  him, 
and  caused  many  of  his  acquaintances  to  suppose  for  fifty  years  that  he  was 
on  the  verge  of  consumption.  There  was,  however,  not  the  slightest  tendency 
to  tuberculosis  in  any  part  of  his  body,  but  the  pulmonary  irritation  subjected 
him  to  repeated  attacks  of  pneumonia,  and  it  was  one  of  those  which  at  last 
caused  his  death,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  In  his  early  manhood  he 
expected  only  a  short  life,  and  scarcely  dreamed  of  attaining  the  age  which 
he  finally  reached. 

In  the  year  1841  he  entered  into  an  academy  at  Romeo,  Michigan,  where 
he  prepared  for  college,  and  then  entered  the  University  of  Michigan,  from 
•which  he  graduated  in  1849.  His  educational  career  showed  a  remarkable 
talent  for  the  acquisition  of  languages,  both  ancient  and  modern,  and  he 
studied  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  French,  German,  Italian  and,  to  some  extent, 
Spa'nish.  In  his  boyhood  he  also  picked  up,  from  the  surrounding  Indians,  a 
considerable  practical  knowledge  of  the  Ojibway  tongue.  Three  years  after 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  51 

taking  his  degree  of  A.  B.,  he  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.,  and  at  a  later 
period,  that  of  LL.  D. 

After  graduating  Dr.  Johnson  went  to  Chicago,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine  under  the  supervision  of  Professor  Herrick.  In  1851  he 
became  the  first  Interne  of  Mercy  Hospital,  and  in  1852,  he  graduated  at 
Rush  Medical  College.  In  1853  he  became  a  member  of  the  Faculty,  and  con- 
tinued with  it  until  1858,  when  he  resigned.  Not  long  after  his  resignation  he 
united  with  a  few  others  in  founding  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  in  which 
he  was  a  professor  and  trustee  from  the  beginning  to  the  day  of  his  death,  and 
was  the  first  President  of  the  Faculty.  He  was  for  some  years  editor  of  the 
North  Western  Medical  Journal,  and  afterward  a  member  of  the  City,  State 
and  National  Boards  of  Health. 

During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Governor, 
with  the  rank  of  Major,  as  one  of  the  Board  for  Examining  Surgeons  and 
Assistant  Surgeons  for  the  Illinois  regiments,  and  such  was  the  faithfulness 
of  the  board,  that  the  medical  officers  of  Illinois  were  conspicuous  in  the  whole 
army  for  their  thorough  knowledge,  and  for  their  humane  and  skillful  conduct 
on  the  field  of  battle.  It  is  said  that  as  member  and  president  of  this  board, 
he  examined  for  appointment  over  one  thousand  physicians.  In  examining 
Assistant  Surgeons  for  promotion,  he  had  to  travel  the  field  of  war,  and  his 
duties  brought  him  occasionally  under  fire,  at  which  times  he  showed  his  skill 
as  an  operator,  and  as  manager  of  field  and  ambulance  service. 

After  the  great  Chicago  fire,  Dr.  Johnson  was  one  of  the  chief  managers 
of  the  Relief  and  Aid  Society,  which  distributed  millions  of  dollars  of  property 
among  the  sufferers.  Dr.  Johnson  was  much  more  than  simply  an  eminent 
physician.  He  was  a  magnificent  man,  possessing  a  clear,  trenchant  intellect, 
and  a  great  and  noble  heart.  His  reputation  is  without  spot,  and  his  honor 
without  stain. 

Dr.  Johnson  married  Miss  Margaret  Ann  Seward,  a  relative  of  the  New 
York  statesman,  William  H.  Seward.  He  had  two  children,  of  whom  only  one 
survived  him,  Dr.  Frank  Seward  Johnson,  Professor  of  Pathology  in  the 
Chicago  Medical  College. 

Of  Dr.  Johnson,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  has  written :  "Hosmer  Allen 
Johnson,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  has  been  very  generally  recognized  as  one  of  the  best 
educated  and  most  talented  physicians  of  Chicago.  His  whole  collegiate  edu- 
cation was  obtained  from  the  proceeds  of  his  own  industry,  largely  in  teach- 
ing school,  and  yet  he  always  maintained  a  position  at  the  head  of  his  classes. 
The  year  following  his  graduation  from  Rush  Medical  College,  he  was  elected 
to  the  professorship  of  Materia  Medica,  and  he  remained  a  member  of  that 
Faculty  until  1859,  when  he  united  with  others  in  founding  the  college  now 
known  as  the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School,  and  remained  one 


52  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

of  the  most  popular  and  influential  members  of  its  Faculty  until  his  death 
in  1891.  During  the  Civil  war  he  was  a  member  of  the  State  Board  of  Medical 
Examiners  and  the  chief  medical  adviser  of  Gov.  Richard  Yates.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  National  Board  of  Health  during  the  existence  of  that  body,  and 
also  of  the  Illinois  State  Board  of  Health,  and  an  active  member  of  the  local, 
State  and  National  Medical  Societies,  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences,  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society,  and  the  Astronomical  and  Microscopical  Societies. 
He  was  a  man  of  unusual  mental  activity,  an  eloquent  speaker,  an  excellent 
teacher, 'a  faithful  friend,  and  he  occupied  one  of  the  highest  positions  in  the 
Masonic  fraternity.  He  has  left  but  few  contributions  to  medical  literature, 
but  he  was  a  consistent  and  efficient  supporter  of  measures  for  the  advance- 
ment of  medical  education  and  of  the  public  health." 

FRANK  SEWARD  JOHNSON,  M.  D.,  the  distinguished  son  of  a  distin- 
guished father,  was  born  April  18,  1856,  in  Chicago,  the  home  of  his  parents, 
Dr.  Hosmer  Allen  and  Margaret  Ann  (Seward)  Johnson.  Inheriting  from 
his  honored  father  the  love  of  the  medical  profession  and  the  great  activity 
for,  deep  research  afforded  an  alert  mind  by  the  many  different  branches,  he 
pursued  his  education  with  the  medical  college  as  the  ultimate  end.  At  the  age 
of  twelve  years  he  went  abroad  and  spent  some  fifteen  months  at  school  in 
Germany  and  Switzerland.  When  eighteen  years  old  he  entered  the  College 
of  Liberal  Arts,  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  Illinois,  and  was  grad- 
uated therefrom  in  1878.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  entered  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  same  institution,  and  after  completing  the  full  course  with 
credit  he  received  his  degree  of  M.  D.  in  1881.  His  career  at  college  had  so 
marked  him  as  a  careful  and  painstaking  student,  thorough  in  all  he  attempted, 
that  he  received  the  appointment  of  Interne  in  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  con- 
tinuing there  from  the  spring  of  1882  to  the  fall  of  1883,  when  he  was  called 
by  his  Alma  Mater  to  be  Demonstrator  of  Histology— a  branch  to  which  he  had 
given  particular  attention,  not  only  in  the  class  room,  but  also  in  private 
investigation.  In  1884  he  became  Lecturer  of  Histology,  and  in  1886,  Pro- 
fessor of  General  Pathology  and  Pathological  Anatomy,  a  chair  in  which  he 
won  much  distinction.  During  the  latter  year  he  spent  six  months  in  Vienna 
in  study.  He  is  an  ideal  instructor,  and  inspires  the  students  not  only  to  a 
close  study  of  the  subject  under  discussion,  but  to  original  research,  doing  in 
that  way  work  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  profession  by  elevating  the 
standard  of  the  attainments  of  the  younger  generations  of  physicians  and 
surgeons.  Continuing  in  the  Chair  of  Pathology  until  1899,  he  was  then 
made  Professor  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine.  In  1898  he  had  been 
made  Dean  of  the  Medical  College.  In  1901  a  protracted  illness  compelled 
him  to  resign  from  active  work  in  the  college.  He  is  a  natural  student,  and 
keeps  a  watchful  eye  on  the  new  discoveries  in  medical  science,  and  has 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  53 

added  not  a  little  to  the  advancement  of  the  profession  by  his  own  enthusias- 
tic interest  in  all  that  pertains  to  it,  and  the  natural  magnetism  of  such  en- 
thusiasm keeps  alive  and  burning  the  fires  to  illumine  the  paths  to  new 
discoveries. 

In  writing  of  Dr.  Frank  Seward  Johnson,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  says : 
"He  is  one  of  the  more  prominent  of  the  younger  physicians  of  this  city.  With 
good  natural  endowments  he  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  an  academic  and 
classical  education,  graduating  from  the  Northwestern  University  in  1878, 
and  from  the  Medical  School  of  the  same  University  in  1881.  Entering  upon 
the  practice  of  his  profession  with  his  father,  he  rapidly  acquired  an  excellent 
reputation  and  a  remunerative  practice  in  the  best  circles  of  society.  He  was 
well  trained  in  Microscopy  and  Histology,  and  in  1886  he  was  appointed  to  the 
Chair  of  General  Pathology  and  Pathological  Anatomy  in  his  Alma  Mater. 
After  discharging  the  duties  of  the  chair  ten  years  with  much  credit  to  himself 
and  satisfaction  to  the  College,  he  resigned,  that  he  might  devote  more  time 
to  general  practice  and  to  clinical  instruction  as  Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine 
in  connection  with  Mercy  Hospital.  He  still  holds  the  Clinical  Professorship. 
He  is  a  consulting  physician  to  several  hospitals,  an  active  member  of  the 
regular  medical  societies,  and  is  well  known  as  a  man  of  integrity,  wide 
scientific  attainments,  and  high  reputation  as  a  teacher  and  practitioner  of  the 
healing  art." 


EDMUND  ANDREWS,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 

With  the  medical  history  of  Chicago  the  name  of  Dr.  Andrews  was 
most  prominently  identified  for  a  period  of  more  than  forty  years.  During  all 
that  time  he  was  associated  with  the  growing  interests  of  medical  educa- 
tion of  the  city.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  Northwestern  University,  and  as  Surgeon  and  Consulting  Surgeon  was 
for  many  years  connected  with  many  hospitals  of  the  city. 

Dr.  Andrews  was  torn  at  Putney,  Vermont,  April  22,  1824,  a  son  of 
Rev.  Elisha  D.  Andrews,  the  Congregational  minister  of  that  town,  who  was 
born  in  Southington,  Connecticut,  a  son  of  Benjamin  Andrews,  who  was  a 
minute-man  during  the  Revolutionary  war.  Rev.  Elisha  D.  Andrews  mar- 
ried Betsy  Lathrop,  who  was  born  in  West  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  a 
granddaughter  of  Rev.  Joseph  D.  Lathrop,  D.  D.,  who  for  sixty-two  years 
had  charge  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  West  Springfield.  To  Rev. 
Elisha  D.  and  Betsy  Andrews  were  born  six  children :  Seth,  Anne,  Joseph, 
Charles,  Edmund  and  George.  When  Edmund  Andrews  was  five  years  of 
age  he  removed  with  his  parents  and  family  from  Putney,  Vermont,  to  West 


54  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Bloomfield,  New  York,  and  thence  successively  to  Mendon,  New  York,  and 
to  Pittsford,  New  York,  near  Rochester,  where  he  lived  on  a  farm.  He  at- 
tended the  district  and  select  schools  of  these  towns.  From  Pittsford  he  re- 
moved to  Armada,  Michigan.  At  Romeo  Academy,  near  Armada,  he  pre- 
pared for  college,  and  entering  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  he 
graduated  from  the  Literary  Department  in  1849.  Matriculating  in  the  Med- 
ical Department,  he  completed  the  course  and  graduated  with  the  class  of 
1852.  From  his  Alma  Mater  Dr  Andrews  successively  received  the  de- 
grees of  A.  B.,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  and  LL.  D.  Moreover  he  was  appointed,  im- 
mediately after  his  graduation  in  the  Medical  Department,  Demonstrator  of 
Anatomy  and  Professor  of  Comparative  Anatomy.  This  position  he  con- 
tinued to  fill  until  1856  or  1857,  when  he  resigned  to  become  Professor  of 
Anatomy  at  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago.  Several  years  later,  in  union 
with  Drs.  Johnson,  Davis  and  others,  he  founded  what  is  now  the  Medical 
School  of  the  Northwestern  University,  and  became  Professor  of  Surgery, 
which  Chair  he  continued  to  fill  with  eminent  ability  until  his  death,  January 
24,  1904.  Dr.  Andrews  was  also  Senior  Surgeon  of  Mercy  Hospital,  Con- 
sulting Surgeon  of  Michael  Reese  Hospital  and  the  Illinois  Hospital  for  Wo- 
men and  Children,  and  Consulting  Surgeon  at  other  hospitals  in  Chicago  and 
elsewhere.  During  the  Civil  war  he  was  appointed  Surgeon-in-chief  of 
Camp  Douglas,  Chicago.  Subsequently  he  was  ordered  to  the  front  as  Sur- 
geon of  the  First  Regiment  of  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  in  which  he  continued 
to  serve  for  about  a  year,  when  his  health  broke  down  and  he  was  sent  back 
to  Chicago.  He  participated  in  several  fights  and  many  marches. 

Dr.  Andrews  was  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Surgical  and 
Chicago  Medical  Societies,  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Illinois 
State  Medical  Society,  the  Mitchell  District  Medical  Society  of  Indi- 
ana, and  of  several  city  medical  societies.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  and 
a  prominent  member  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences,  a  member  of 
the  Wisconsin  Medical  and  Historical  Society,  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
Davenport,  Iowa,  and  of  the  Loyal  Legion  and  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Re- 
public. Though  educated  both  in  Medicine  and  Surgery  he  made  a 
specialty  of  the  latter. 

In  April,  1855,  Dr.  Andrews  was  married,  at  Detroit,  Michigan,  to  Miss 
Eliza  Taylor,  who  was  born  at  Mendon,  New  York,  in  1826,  daughter  of 
Jerry  Taylor,  a  merchant,  who  early  in  the  thirties  moved  from  New  York  to 
Michigan.  By  this  marriage  Dr.  Andrews  had  five  children,  namely : 
Charles  T.,  E.  Wyllys,  Frank  T.,  Leo  H.  and  Edmund  L.  Of  these  there 
are  three  living :  Dr.  E.  Wyllys  Andrews  and  Dr.  Frank  Taylor  Andrews, 
both  practicing  physicians  at  Chicago,  and  Edmund  L.  Andrews,  an  electri- 
cal engineer.  The  other  two  children  died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  Andrews  died 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  55 

in  1880,  and  three  years  later  Dr.  Andrews,  for  his  second  wife,  married  Mrs. 
Frances  M.  Barrett,  sister  of  his  first  wife. 

A  sketch  of  him  and  his  work,  recently  penned  by  the  venerable  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis,  Sr.,  is  here  appended : 

"Edmund  Andrews,  perhaps  now  the  oldest  practitioner  and  teacher  of 
Surgery  in  this  city,  was  born  in  Putney,  Windham  county,  Vermont,  April 
22,  1824.  While  yet  a  boy  his  father  moved  with  him  to  central  New  York, 
where  they  were  both  chiefly  occupied  in  farm  labor.  The  son,  however,  im- 
proved every  opportunity  for  the  study  of  the  elementary  branches  of  educa- 
tion. At  the  age  of  seventeen  years  he  removed  to  the  State  of  Michigan, 
and  for.  three  years  so  divided  his  time  between  manual  labor  and  study 
that  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  was  enabled  to  enter  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan at  Ann  Arbor,  as  a  Freshman.  While  in  the  University  he  developed  a 
strong  predilection  for  Mathematics  and  the  Natural  Sciences,  and  received 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1849.  He  then  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine  as  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Zina  Pitcher,  of  Detroit,  who  had  been  a  Surgeon 
in  the  American  army  during  the  war  of  1812,  and  was  an  ex-president  of 
the  American  Medical  Association.  The  following  year,  1850,  he  entered 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
college  year  he  was  made  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy.  At  the  end  of  his 
second  college  year,  1852,  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He, 
however,  continued  to  hold  the  office  of  Demonstrator,  and  in  addition  to  the 
duties  gave  lectures  on  Comparative  Anatomy.  In  1853  he  took  an  active 
part  in  the  organization  of  the  Michigan  State  Medical  Society,  and  also  be- 
came editor  of  the  Peninsular  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Collateral  Sciences, 
and  sustained  both  with  ability  and  success.  In  1855  he  was  induced  to  accept 
the  office  of  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  Rush  Medical  College,  and  changed 
his  residence  to  Chicago.  He  retained  his  position  in  that  college  only  one 
year,  after  which  he  devoted  his  time  and  talents  to  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion, with  a  strong  predilection  for  Surgery,  for,  which  his  mechanical  genius 
and  scientific  attainments  eminently  qualified  him.  About  this  time  Dr.  An- 
drews joined  with  Robert  Kennicutt,  H.  A.  Johnson,  N.  S.  Davis  and  several 
other  citizens,  in  founding  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  through 
all  of  its  vicissitudes  of  adversity  and  prosperity  he  has  given  it  most  valuable 
and  efficient  support.  In  1859  he  joined  with  Drs.  H.  A.  Johnson,  R.  N. 
Isham,  N.  S.  Davis  and  W.  H.  Byford  in  organizing  a  Medical  Department 
of  Lind  University- (now  Lake  Forest),  and  was  assigned  to  the  Chairs  of 
Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery.  He  has  been  one  of  the  strong  and  efficient 
supporters  of  the  Medical  School  then  organized,  through  its  changes  of 
name,  to  the  present  time.  His  surgical  practice  rapidly  increased,  and  after 
the  death  of  Dr.  Daniel  Brainarcl,  in  1866,  he  became  the  leading  operating 


56  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

surgeon  throughout  what  was  then  called  the  Northwestern  States,  more 
properly  now  the  Middle  West. 

"Early  in  the  great  Civil  war,  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
States,  he  accepted  the  position  of  Surgeon  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Illinois 
Light  Artillery,  and  under  the  command  of  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  ren- 
dered such  efficient  service  as  received  the  highest  commendation.  After  one 
year  of  active  service  with  the  army  in  the  field  he  was  permitted  to  resign, 
and  return  to  his  duties  as  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Medical  College.  From 
an  unusual  faculty  for  inventing  means  for  the  accomplishment  of  given  ends 
he  early  acquired  pre-eminence  in  the  treatment  of  spinal  and  other  deformi- 
ties. He  was  an  energetic  and  instructive  lecturer,  both  in  the  class  room  and 
in  the  Clinical  Wards  of  the  Mercy  Hospital,  always  holding  the  close  atten- 
tion of  his  classes  and  ever  punctual  to  his  engagements.  He  was  a  valuable 
and  efficient  supporter  of  medical  societies,  and  an  active  and  honored  mem- 
ber of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  and  of 
the  American  Medical  Association.  He  made  many  valuable  contributions  to 
medical  literature,  and  is  the  author  of  several  volumes  on  special  Surgical 
subjects.  His  scientific  contributions,  especially  in  the  departments  of 
Geology  and  Botany,  have  been  numerous  and  valuable.  He  continued  active 
clinical  instruction  to  the  college  classes  in  the  Mercy  Hospital  until  last  year, 
(1899),  when,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five  years,  he  resigned,  and  now  occupies 
the  position  of  Emeritus  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery 
and  Clinical  Surgery.  During  his  entire  career  as  a  professional  and  scien- 
tific man,  his  influence  has  been  altogether  on  the  side  of  religion,  integrity 
and  true  patriotism.  Once  only  has  he  found  time  to  cross  the  Atlantic, 
which  was  in  1867,  when  he  visited  the  colleges  and  hospitals  of  London 
and  Paris." 

Numerous  articles  in  medical  journals  and  one  text-book  on  surgery 
(which  went  through  three  editions)  are  credited  to  his  pen.  Prof.  Andrews 
died  January  24,  1904,  in  his  eightieth  year.  Memorial  services  held  one 
month  later  were  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  local  medical  societies, 
the  medical  schools  and  several  other  organizations.  Addresses  were  given 
by  Prof.  Vaughan,  Dean  of  the  Michigan  University  Medical  Department, 
Dr.  Gunsaulus,  of  Chicago,  Dr.  Davis,  President  James,  of  Northwestern 
University,  and  others.  The  services  were  appropriately  held  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  he  had  been  an  active  supporter  for  fifty 
years. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


a,3iv.?  at 'Miter* -Hut 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  57 

MARY   HARRIS  THOMPSON,  M.  D. 

The  professional  life  of  Mary  Harris  Thompson  centers  round  the  hos- 
pital which  now  bears  her  name  as  a  monument  to  the  courage  and  persever- 
ance of  its  founder  and  to  the  professional  skill  displayed  during  the  thirty 
years  she  stood  at  the  head  of  the  Medical  and  Surgical  Staff. 

Dr.  Thompson  was  born  April  15,  1829,  at  Fort  Ann,  New  York,  the 
daughter  of  John  Harri/and  Calista  (Corbin)  Thompson,  who  were  both 
natives  of  that  State.  A  friend  of  her  childhood  thus  beautifully  writes  of  her 
early  life :  "An  old  estate  of  wide  acres  and  varied  landscape  in  historic 
eastern  New  York  was  her  birthplace,  and  Nature  in  this  country  place  of  her 
nativity  gave  to  this  clean-souled  being  most  lavishly  of  her  own  grand  strength 
and  of  her  sweetness.  She  came  of  good  English  stock  and  to  this  scion  of 
her  race  was  given  in  a  marked  degree  the  sterling  qualities  of  her  ancestors. 
Her  early  education  was  obtained  in  the  common  schools  and  at  a  select  school 
in  her  native  town.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  she  commenced  teaching  in  the 
public  schools,  alternating  the  work  of  teaching  with  attendance  at  West 
Poultney  (Troy  Conference)  Academy  and  Fort  Edward  Collegiate  Insti- 
tute, at  which  place  she  received  the  last  of  her  English  education.  After  this 
she  followed  the  profession  of  teaching  for  several  successive  years,  devoting 
all  her  time  which  was  not  thus  occupied  to  the  independent  study  of  Astron- 
omy, Chemistry,  Physiology  and  Anatomy,  which  last  two  studies  she  intro- 
duced into  the  course  of  instruction  at  her  school,  the  innovation  meeting 
with  marked  success.  She  found,  however,  that  independent  study  left  her 
without  the  drill  and  the  thorough  understanding  of  the  subjects  which  a 
practical  demonstration  would  afford,  and  she  became  a  student  in  the  New 
England  Female  Medical  College  of  Boston,  a  regular  school  with  a  good  corps 
of  instructors.  Later  she  graduated  from  the  New  York  Female  Medical  Col- 
lege. Dr.  Thompson  came  to  Chicago  in  July,  1863,  having  already  had  exten- 
sive clinical  experience  in  the  New  York  Infirmary  under  Drs.  Elizabeth  and 
Emily  Blackwell.  She  had  also  enjoyed  the  rare  privilege  of  attending  clinical 
lectures  in  Bellevue  Hospital.  In  the  year  1870  the  Chicago  Medical  College 
conferred  a  degree  upon  her,  the  only  one  which  has  been  granted  to  a  woman 
from  this  institution. 

In  May,  1865,  was  established  the  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children, 
and  from  that  time  until  her  death,  over  thirty  years  later,  she  held  uninter- 
ruptedly the  position  of  head  physician  and  surgeon.  The  hospital  was  in  real- 
ity the  forerunner  of  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  which  was  organized  in 
1870.  It  was  but  natural  that  around  the  only  hospital  founded  and  nurtured 
by  a  woman  should  center  the  interests  of  the  medical  women  of  the  West,  and 
when  Dr.  William  H.  Byford,  Dr.  William  G.  Dyas  and  others  came  forward 


58  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

to  champion  the  cause  of  medical  education  for  women,  it  was  only  a  question 
of  ways  and  means  until  the  college  was  on  a  firm  foundation.  The  hospital 
was  first  located  on  the  corner  of  Rush  and  Indiana  streets.  In  July,  1869, 
it  was  removed  to  No.  402  North  State  street,  and  it  was  there  the  first  course 
of  lectures  in  the  college  curriculum  was  delivered.  In  1873  the  present  loca- 
tion, corner  of  Adams  and  Paulina  streets,  was  secured  and  in  1885  the  hand- 
some building  now  occupied  by  the  hospital  was  erected. 

Through  all  the  changing  and  moving  incident  to  the  enlarging  of  her 
work,  Dr.  Thompson  worked  quietly  on,  with  one  fixed  purpose,  to  build  up  an 
institution  where  the  medical  and  surgical  work  should  be  under  the  control  of 
women,  and  where  women  and  children  could  receive  skillful  treatment  by 
women.  The  success  which  attended  her  efforts  was  in  a  large  measure  due 
to  her  peculiar  faculty  of  drawing  to  her  aid  many  and  influential  friends. 
The  Board,  of  Trustees  and  Managers  of  the  Hospital  has  at  all  times  numbered 
among  its  members  the  leaders  in  the  social  and  philanthropic  circles  of  the 
city.  After  the  great  fire  of  1871  Dr.  Thompson  went  East  to  solicit  funds  for 
the  hospital  work.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  after  an  interview  with  her,  wrote 
to  Wendell  Phillips  as  follows : 

Boston,  December  20,  1871. 
Dear  Wendell: 

Please  to  hear  Miss  Thompson's  story,  and  see  if  you  can  at  any  time  help  her  by  a  public  word 
in  her  behalf.  She  comes  in  a  good  cause,  and  well  recommended  by  Robert  Collyer  and  other 
good  people  whom  I  know.  Moreover,  she  recommends  herself,  as  you  will  see. 

Yours  truly, 

JAMES  FREEMAN  CLARKE. 

Dr.  William  H.  Byford,  who  was  one  of  Dr.  Thompson's  earliest  friends, 
and  her  constant  adviser  during  the  years  the  hospital  was  being  established, 
wrote  to  a  friend : 

Chicago,  November  27,  1871 

Dr.  Mary  H.  Thompson,  the  bearer  of  this  note,  is  one  of  the  Professors  in  the  Woman's  Hos- 
pital Medical  College  of  Chicago.  She  was  the  founder  and  has  been  the  medical  attendant  since 
its  organization  of  the  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children  of  this  city.  It  affords  us  pleasure  to  say 
that  her  professional  and  social  standing  is  in  every  way  unexceptional.  I  would  cordially  recom- 
mend her  to  such  of  my  professional  friends  as  she  may  meet  as  worthy  of  any  kindness  they  may 
show  her. 

W.  H.  BYFORD. 

The  training  school  for  nurses  organized  in  connection  with  the  hospital 
grew  rapidly  as  the  work  of  the  hospital  increased,  and  not  the  least  valuable 
of  Dr.  Thompson's  work  is  represented  in  the  large  numbers  of  graduate  nurses 
who  received  thorough  instruction  under  her  tuition.  Her  arduous  duties  as 
head  of  the  hospital  gave  her  little  time  for  writing,  and  on  this  account  her 
work  is  not  as  widely  known  in  the  profession  as  it  deserves  to  be.  She 
invented  several  surgical  instruments  of  value,  especially  an  abdominal  needle 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  59 

which  has  been  widely  adopted  by  surgeons.  She  was  for  years  the  only 
woman  in  Chicago  doing  major  surgery.  The  one  trait  in  Dr.  Thompson's 
character  which  as  a  physician  and  surgeon  was  perhaps  the  most  prominent 
was  her  good  judgment.  She  possessed  strong  common  sense.  She  recognized 
that  probability  is  the  rule  of  life  and  applied  it  to  her  surgical  and  medical 
work  in  a«  practical  manner.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  mental  strength.  She 
formed  her  own  philosophy,  although  her  mind  was  ever  open  to  new  truths. 
Her  books  were  her  friends  and  constant  companions.  She  entered  little  into 
the  social  life  of  the  city,  finding  it  impossible  to  combine  a  social  life  with  the 
conscientious  performance  of  professional  duties.  She  was  an  indefatigable 
worker,  both  mentally  and  physically,  and  her  magnificent  health  allowed  her 
to  accomplish  what  would  hzve  been  impossible  for  a  woman  of  less  physical 
vigor.  She  had  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  genius  for  labor  in  others.  To  a 
friend  who  sent  her  the  results  of  five  years  of  scientific  research  she  wrote : 
"What  a  monument  to  labor!" 

On  the  morning  of  the  2ist  of  May,  1895,  Dr.  Thompson  passed  to  her 
long  rest.  Three  days  previous  to  her  death  she  had  been  suddenly  stricken 
down  by  an  attack  of  cerebral  hemorrhage.  She  went,  as  she  had  always 
wished  to  go,  quickly,  and  in  the  midst  of  her  work.  By  her  death  the  profes- 
sion lost  one  of  its  ablest  members;  the  hospital,  which  she  founded,  lost  a 
mother,  and  her  friends,  a  friend  whose  place  can  never  be  filled.  The  follow- 
ing eulogy  was  delivered  before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society  at  the  first  meet- 
ing following  Dr.  Thompson's  death  by  a  life-long  friend.  Dr.  John  Bartlett : 

"Mr.  President :  It  is  our  sad  duty  at  this  meeting  to  pay  a  tribute  of 
respect  to  a  departed  member.  Dr.  Mary  H.  Thompson,  so  long  and  so  hon- 
orably associated  with  us,  has  passed  away.  Of  this  honored  member  and 
notable  woman  I  feel  impelled  to  utter  some  words  of  appreciation.  Dr. 
Thompson  had  an  active  mind  and  a  kind  and  generous  spirit.  A  good  educa- 
tion in  scholarship  and  morals  had  well  prepared  her  for  the  work  accomplished 
in  Chicago.  She  was  endowed  with  great  industry,  remarkable  perseverance 
and  an  exhaustless  patience.  She  was  a  singular  compound  of  modesty  of 
opinion  and  determination  of  purpose.  Mild  in  demeanor,  moderate  in  asser- 
tion, she  was  yet  as  persistent  as  an  Earle,  and  as  tenacious  of  purpose  as  a 
Fitch.  One  of  the  most  striking  peculiarities  of  Dr.  Thompson  was  her  uncon- 
scious consciousness  of  worth — she  bore  about  her  a  mysterious 
signet  indicating  to  all  that  she  was  a  true  lady.  There  was 
that  in  the  conduct,  in  the  bearing,  in  the  utterance  of  Dr. 
Thompson  which  inhibited  in  all  the  conception  of  the  suspicion 
that  she  was  other  than  the  noble  and  true  woman  that  she  was.  Void  of 
presumption,  with  hardly  a  trace  of  self-assertion,  all  about  her  unconsciously 
felt  the  weight  of  her  opinions.  With  the  mildest  and  quietest  manner  she 


60  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

managed  to  make  her  capability  for  persuasion  and  control  felt  by  all  within  her 
influence.  Dr.  Thompson  had  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  faculty  of  making 
and  retaining  friends.  With  her  the  rule  was,  once  a  friend  always  a  friend ; 
and  with  her  also  that  word  was  received  in  its  broadest  and  deepest  sense.  The 
Doctor  was  devoted  to  her  profession  ;  she  was  ever  studious  and  labored  indus- 
triously to  keep  herself  abreast  of  the  times,  using  a  ripened  judgment  in 
sifting  from  the  host  of  vain  novelties  the  really  useful  remedies,  means  and 
methods,  as  they  appeared. 

"Dr.  Thompson  was  what  was  called  a  generation  ago  a  woman's  rights 
woman;  but,  as  she  expressed  it,  'she  was  always  too  busy  utilizing  the  oppor- 
tunities for  work  that  now  offered  to  spend  time  in  preaching  the  gospel  of  the 
rights  of  her  sex.'  The  one  chief  purpose  of  the  Doctor's  life  was  the  establish- 
ment of  the  fact  that  women  were  competent  to  become  useful  ministers  of  the 
healing  art.  The  great  labor  of  her  life  was  in  connection  with  the  Chicago 
Hospital  for  Women  and  Children,  not  only  as  physician  and  surgeon,  but, 
when  the  occasion  required  it,  as  organizer,  promoter,  matron. 

"Mr.  President,  the  noble  work  of  this  admirable  woman  in  the  cultiva- 
tion and  practice  of  our  healing  art,  in  the  establishment  of  a  noble  eleemosy- 
nary institution,  is  ended ;  and  the  fruits  of  her  industry,  her  energy,  her  cour- 
age, her  philanthropy,  live  in  her  works.  Her  efforts,  long  and  never  weary, 
for  the  advancement  of  her  sex,  wherever  her  influence  has  been  felt,  have 
struck  a  chord  in  the  heart  and  mind  of  women  the  sympathetic  responses  to 
which  may  not  cease  so  long  as  the  true,  the  natural,  unison  of  accord  be- 
tween man  and  woman  remains  unattained. 

"Mr.  President :  Mortals  may  not  anticipate  heavenly  decrees,  but  surely, 
were  all  here  below,  acquainted  with  the  life  work  of  our  departed  friend,  to 
hold  inquiry  as  to  the  use  she  had  made  of  the  talent  to  her  entrusted,  we 
should  have  rendered  this  verdict,  spontaneous  and  unanimous — 'Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant.'  ' 

The  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Hospital  she  served  so  long  and  faith- 
fully published  a  memorial  volume  of  her  life  and  resolutions  of  respect  and 
sympathy  were  passed  by  many  societies  of  women  among  the  laity  as  well  as 
in  the  profession.  Rev.  Robert  Collyer  wrote  to  one  of  the  Board  of  Mana- 
gers, on  hearing  of  her  death,  as  follows : 

"The  Chicago  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children  was  founded  and  built 
up  by  Dr.  Thompson  out  of  her  heart's  love  and  her  life,  and  what  little  I  could 
do,  for  one,  to  help  her  is  not  to  be  counted  for  a  feather-weight.  I  can  remem- 
ber her  quiet  enthusiasm,  the  purest  enthusiasm  of  humanity,  and  her  utterly 
unselfish  devotion  in  the  work  God  had  given  her  to  do,  so  that  her  poor  helpers 
could  only  say  Amen !  and  lend  a  hand  or  perhaps  a  finger.  She  never  tired, 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  61 

and  never  lost  her  courage  and  clear  grit,  no  matter  what  the  rest  might  do,  in 
the  dark  and  difficult  times  through  which  she  had  to  pass,  that  she  might  make 
good  her  most  noble  purpose ;  and  so  it  is  truly  the  Mary  Thompson  Hospital 
for  Women  and  Children.  In  New  Orleans  they  have  a  statue  to  the  memory 
of  a  woman  who  was  the  godmother,  shall  I  say,  to  many  hapless  children,  the 
only  statue  to  a  woman,  they  told  me,  in  the  Republic.  So  when  you  are  able 
• — and  you  are  able  to  do  anything  in  my  dear  old  Chicago — I  hope  the  second 
will  be  Dr.  Mary  Thompson,  in  pure  white  marble,  set  up  in  the  vestibule  of 
the  hospital.  I  know  she  would  forbid  you,  but  that's  no  matter." 

Rev.  Dr.  William  M.  Lawrence,  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  hospital,  delivered  the  memorial  address.  The  following  ex- 
tract shows  his  estimation  of  her  character :  "I  remember  the  first  time  I  was 
ever  associated  with  her  in  any  public  work.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Woman's  College.  I  was  comparatively  a  stranger  here  in 
this  city,  and  all  the  circumstances  and  incidents  made  a  very  strong  impression 
upon  my  mind,  because  I  was  familiar  with  the  struggles  which  had  encom- 
passed woman  in  the  work  for  recognition  in  the  medical  profession.  I  listened 
on  this  occasion  to  which  I  am  referring,  with  peculiar  interest,  as  the  Doctor- 
ate address  was  delivered  by  Dr.  Thompson.  It  was  direct ;  it  was  simple ;  it 
was  inclusive;  it  was  conclusive;  and  the  impression  that  was  made  upon  my 
mind  was  that  here  was  a  woman  who  had  mastered  her  profession  until  it  had 
become  an  art,  and  whose  interest  in  it  was  not  because  of  her  personal  ambi- 
tion, but  because  she  loved  it  and  loved  it  for  what  it  could  be  to  others.  Dr. 
Mary  Thompson  was  a  woman  whose  eye  was  toward  the  rising  sun.  I  never 
knew  a  woman  who  loved  the  air  more  than  she  did.  Great  natures  are  always 
in  close  communion  with  Mother  Nature.  The  true  physician  is  the  one  who 
studies  nature,  who  discovers  its  facts,  and  who  is  lead  by  its  discovery  to  the 
further  discovery  of  some  law — universal  or  special  in  its  application,  as  the 
case  may  be.  In  a  word,  no  one  can  be  a  great  physician  who  is  not  a  great 
lover  of  nature.  It  is  a  very  peculiar  thing  that  Dr.  Thompson  died  just  as  the 
sun  was  rising ;  that  her  prayer  was  that  she  might  be  spared  to  see  the  light  of 
another  day.  And  if  ever  there  was  a  nature  that  could  echo  Newman's  favor- 
ite hymn,  'Lead  Kindly  Light,'  it  certainly  was  hers." 

Dr.  I.  N.  Danforth  paid  her  the  following  tribute :  "To  Dr.  Mary  Harris 
Thompson  belongs  the  unusual  distinction  of  having  a  hospital  for  Women  and 
Children  bear  her  name  in  perpetuity ;  and  the  further  and  greater  distinction 
of  meriting  this  unique  honor.  Dr.  Thompson  was  one  of  the  early  pioneers 
among  female  physicians  in  Chicago.  She  was  universally  respected  by  physi- 
cians of  both  sexes,  both  for  her  professional  abilities  and  her  high-toned  wo- 
manly qualities.  She  was  superbly  self-reliant,  but  without  a  spark  of  egotism 
or  offensive  self-assertion.  She  was  so  well-balanced,  or  'all  around'  in  her 


62  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

make-up,  that  she  moved  with  a  quietude  that  half  concealed  her  remarkable 
abilities — but  she  was  a  strong  and  positive  character." 

Soon  after  her  death  the  name  of  the  hospital  was  legally  changed,  and  as 
The  Mary  Thompson  Hospital  of  Chicago  for  Women  and  Children  stands  as 
a  most  fitting  monument  to  this  "well-beloved  physician." 

[Lucv  WAITE,  M.  D.] 


LUCY  WAITE,  B.  A.,  M.  D. 

The  successful  career  of  this  richly  endowed  physician  affords  a  suffi- 
cient refutation  of  the  theory  that  surgery  is  a  field  not  open  to  women, 
Dr.  Waite  is  the  Head  Surgeon  and  Medical  Superintendent  of  the  Mary 
Thompson  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children.  She  has  gone  up  to  her, 
present  position  through  years  of  training  both  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe.  Early  in  her  professional  life  she  decided  to  devote  her- 
self to  surgical  work,  and  after,  several  years  spent  in  general 
practice  went  to  Europe  to  study  Gynecology  and  Abdominal  Sur- 
gery. After  two  years  spent  in  the  clinics  of  Vienna  and  Paris  she  re- 
turned to  America  and  continued  her  studies  in  post-graduate  medical  schools 
in  this  country.  As  a  surgeon  in  her  special  department,  Gynecology,  she 
has  made  a  good  record,  and  by  her  executive  ability  she  has  brought  the 
hospital  of  which  she  has  charge  up  to  first  rank  among  the  institutions  of 
the  city.  Dr.  Waite  is  a  graduate  of  the  Chicago  University.  In  1880  she 
took  the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  the  old  university,  and  later  her  degree  was  re- 
enacted  by  the  new  university.  She  is  at  present  a  member  of  the  Univer- 
sity Congregation,  having  been  electetd  by  the  Alumni  as  one  of  their  repre- 
sentatives for  a  term  of  ten  years.  In  1883  Dr.  Waite  took  a  medical  degree 
from  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College,  and  later  from  the  Harvey  Medical 
School  of  Chicago.  During  the  two  years  spent  in  Europe  she  was  under 
the  personal  tuition  of  Carl  Braun,  Spath  and  Pavlick,  in  Vienna,  and  Perm, 
Pozzi  and  Doleris  in  Paris. 

Dr.  Waite  comes  of  a  professional  family.  Her  grandfather,  Dr. 
Daniel  D.  Waite,  was  one  of  the  pioneer  physicians  of  the  city,  being  among 
the  very  early  presidents  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society.  Her  father.  Judge 
C.  B.  Waite,  was  for  years  a  United  States  judge,  and  her  mother,  Katha- 
rine Van  Valkenburg,  was  one  of  the  first  women  to  graduate  in  the  law. 
Dr.  Waite  is  the  wife  of  Dr.  Byron  Robinson.  She  retains  her  family  name 
at  the  request  of  her  husband,  who  is  a  strong  advocate  of  medical  women, 
and  has  been  of  great  assistance  to  his  wife  in  her  surgical  studiees.  Dr. 
Waite  is  a  clear  and  concise  writer,  and  has  contributed  many  valuable  ar- 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
UR5ANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  63 

tides  to  the  medical  journals.  She  is  a  good  German  and  French  scholar, 
having  been  obliged  to  master  both  these  languages  while  prosecuting  her 
medical  studies  abroad.  She  is  spoken  of  by  her  colleagues  as  possessing 
excellent  judgment  and  accuracy  in  diagnosis,  and  is  a  skillful  operator  with 
the  lowest  per  cent,  of  death  rate. 

Dr.  Nicholas  Senn  writes  of  her:  "Dr.  Lucy  Waite  is  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  successful  surgeons  in  the  city.  She  is  the  chief  surgeon  of  the 
Mary  Thompson  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children,  and  under  her  super- 
vision the  institution  has  prospered  wonderfully." 

Dr.  Henry  L.  Byford  says :  "Dr.  Lucy  Waite  is  a  growing  woman.  She 
has  inherited  a  fine  mental  quality,  and  possesses  perseverance,  tact  and  de- 
votion to  her  profession.  She  forgets  herself  in  her  work  and  gives  her  best 
efforts,  and  has  well  earned  the  place  in  the  front  ranks  to  which  she  has 
so  rapidly  risen.  She  honors  her  position  as  successor  to  the  celebrated 
pioneer,  Mary  Thompson." 

Dr.  Christian  Fenger  paid  her  the  following  tribute:  "Dr.  Lucy  Waite 
has  attained  high  rank  in  the  profession  by  hard  work  of  a  superior  kind  and 
this  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  which  attend  the  pioneer.  She  has  always 
been,  and  is  now,  a  hard  and  earnest  student.  As  an  operator  and  an  ab- 
dominal surgeon  she  has  an  enviable  reputation." 


E.  C.  DUDLEY,  A.  B.,  M.  D. 

E.  C.  Dudley,  a  prominent  physician  of  Chicago,  was  born  at  Westfield, 
Massachusetts,  May  29,  1850.  His  ancestry  is  decidedly  interesting.  Capt. 
Roger  Dudley  was  killed  in  the  War  of  the  Roses.  One  of  his  sons,  Thomas 
Dudley,  landed  in  Boston  in  1630,  and  became  Governor,  of  Massachusetts; 
while  another  son,  William  Dudley,  of  whom  Dr.  Dudley  is  the  direct  de- 
scendant, landed  in  1638,  and  afterward  settled  in  the  historical  village  of 
Guilford,  Connecticut,  where  so  many  celebrated  New  England  families  have 
originated. 

Several  of  Dr.  Dudley's  ancestors  fought  in  the  French  and  Indian  War, 
among  them  Lieut.  Joseph  Dudley,  Capt.  Cyprian  Dudley,  Ensign  Daniel 
Bascom,  John  Hyde  and  Launcelot  Granger.  Among  the  names  of  the  New 
England  ancestors  may  be  mentioned  those  of  Sampson,  Mason,  Adams, 
Harmon,  Pratt  and  Phelps. 

Five  ancestors,  including  his  father's  father,  and  his  mother's  grand- 
father, fought  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  His  father's  great-uncle,  Gideon 
Granger,  held  the  position  of  postmaster  general.  His  paternal  grandmother's 


64  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

faather,  Dr.  Ainos  Granger,  was  an  army  surgeon  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  accompanied  General  Gates  in  his  campaign  into  northern  New 
York. 

John  Harmon  Dudley,  Dr.  Dudley's  father,  was  a  farmer  during  the 
summer,  and  in  the  winter  taught  a  district  school.  The  ruggedness  of  life, 
and  the  sternness  of  character  resulting  from  it,  during  all  this  "Age  of 
Homespun,"  is  constantly  before  us  in  the  characteristics  which  we  find  in  all 
communities  which  have  been  leavened  by  New  England  blood.  The  com- 
bination of  industry  and  frugality,  necessary  conditions  of  existence  then, 
became  woven  into  the  moral  fibre,  and  prevail  as  marks  of  character  long 
after  the  necessity  has  passed. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  left  the  public  schools  at  the  age  of  thirteen, 
and  from  that  time  until  he  was  eighteen  was  in  the  service  of  an  apothecary. 
In  September,  1868,  he  began  the  study  of  Latin,  Greek,  Algebra  and  Geom- 
etry, with  a  tutor,  and  ten  months  later  passed  the  entrance  examination  for. 
the  Freshman  class  in  the  Academical  Department  of  Dartmouth  College. 
He  was  graduated  from  this  institution  in  1873,  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Chapter  of  Dartmouth  College.  During 
his  college  course  he  taught  school  four  terms,  making  up  the  lost  time  and 
continuing  with  his  class;  in  fact,  during  all  the  period  of  his  education  he 
relied  almost  entirely  upon  his  own  efforts  for  support. 

In  the  summer  of  1872,  Dr.  Dudley  was  attached  to  the  United  States 
Coast  Survey  with  Prof.  Quimby,  who  was  engaged  in  triangulations  be- 
tween the  New  Hampshire  sea-coast  and  Lake  Champlain.  He  attended 
medical  lectures  at  Yale  in  1873-74,  and  during  the  time  "coached"  New 
Haven  students  in  the  preparatory  and  Freshman  class  in  Latin,  Greek  and 
Mathematics.  He  took  his  medical  degree  at  Long  Island  College  Hospital 
in  1875,  and  was  valedictorian  of  his  class.  After  serving  for  a  short  period 
at  the  West  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  in  Pittsburg,  and  at  the  Charity  Hospital, 
Blackwell's  Island,  he  undertook  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Chicago,  but 
after  a  year  returned  to  New  York  and  for  eighteen  months  was  Interne 
in  the  Woman's  Hospital.  His  term  of  service  there  was  completed  in 
April,  1878,  since  which  time  he  has  continuously  practiced  in  Chicago. 

In  1882  the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School  (Chicago  Med- 
ical College)  invited  Dr.  Dudley  to  accept  the  position  of  Professor  of  Gynae- 
cology, and  he  still  holds  this  position.  Among  the  various  positions  he  has 
held,  or  holds,  may  be  mentioned  that  of  Gynaecologist  to  St.  Luke's  Hos- 
pital, Chicago.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  York  County  Medical  Society, 
the  Chicago  Gynaecological  Society,  the  American  Academy  of  Medicine,  the 
American  Gynaecologist  Society,  the  British  Gynaecological  Society,  and 
the  Woman's  Hospital  Alumni  Association.  He  also  holds  membership  in 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  65 

various  State,  national  and  international,  and  numerous  local,  societies.  He 
founded,  and  was  editor  of,  the  Chicago  Medical  Review.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  partial  list  of  his  published  papers :  "Puerperal  Laceration  of  the 
Cervix  Uteri,  and  the  Operation  of  Trachelorraphy  as  a  Means  of  Cure," 
Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  March,  1879;  "Displacement  of  the 
Uterus,"  Pepper's  System  of  Medicine;  "Pressure  Forceps  Versus  the  Liga- 
ture and  the  Suture  in  Vaginal  Hysterectomy,"  Gynaecological  Transactions, 
1888;  "A  Plastic  Operation  Designed  to  Straighten  the  Anteflexecl  Uter- 
us," American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  Vol.  XX,  No.  2,  1891 ;  and  a  larger 
work  entitled  "Principles  and  Practice  of  Gynaecology." 

Dr.  Dudley's  most  noted  literary  work  is  a  book  on  Diseases  of 
Women,  which  is  a  very  valuable  work,  and  most  expressive  of  the  individu- 
ality of  the  writer.  It  is  already  in  the  second  edition,  and  is  recognized  as 
a  text  book  in  more  than  eighty  medical  colleges. 

In  1882  Dr.  Dudley  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Maria  Titcomb,  of  Win- 
netka,  Illinois.  Her  father,  Silas  Benton  Titcomb,  was  an  engineer  in  the 
construction  of  the  Boston  &  Albany  railroad,  one  of  the  engineers  who  ac- 
companied Major  Whistler  on  the  Commission  of  the  Czar  of  Russia  to  build 
railroads  in  that  country.  He  was  also  a  soldier  during  the  entire  war  of 
the  Rebellion.  Her  mother,  Jane  Grey  (King)  Titcomb,  was  a  daughter  of 
Daniel  King,  a  pioneer  and  prominent  citizen,  in  early  life  a  resident  of  Pal- 
mer, Massachusetts,  but  later  of  Bureau  county,  Illinois.  Mrs.  Dudley's 
grandfather,  Lieut.  Pierson  Titcomb,  was  an  engineer  in  the  regular  army  in 
the  early  part  of  the  century.  Mrs.  Dudley  is  a  versatile,  brilliant,  charitable 
and  extremely  useful  woman.  Her  ancestry,  which  is  largely  from  Dutch 
and  French  Huguenot  families,  is  an  interesting  counterpart  to  the  ancestry 
of  her  husband.  Among  these  families  may  be  mentioned  the  Hopes  of  Am- 
sterdam and  the  De  Les  Derniers  of  Maine  and  Rhode  Island.  Mrs.  Dud- 
ley's paternal  grandmother  was  Anne  Maria  De  Les  Dernier,  daughter  of 
Peter  Francis  Christian  De  Les  Dernier,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  Among 
the  families  to  which  Mrs.  Dudley  is  related  collaterally,  or  by  descent,  may 
be  found  the  names  of  Ellis,  Prescott,  Bartlett,  Poore,  Rolfe,  Pierson  and 
Lord.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Dudley  have  five  children,  Katharine,  Dorothy,  Helen, 
Prescott  and  Caroline. 

Dr.  Dudley's  writings  have  been  reasonably  prolific,  but  have  their  spe- 
cial value  in  the  strength  and  simplicity  of  their  statement  and  the  freedom  of 
their  precept  from  what  may  be  called  the  deadwood  of  professional  tradi- 
tion. As  an  operator  he  is  rapid,  dexterous,  and  resourceful.  As  a  practi- 
tioner he  is  thoroughly  removed  from  the  one-sidedness  of  specialism,  and 
though  strictly  limiting  his  practice  to  Gynaecology  and  Abdominal  Surgery 
is  broad  in  his  therapeutic  tendencies.  The  positiveness  of  his  conviction  and 


66  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

method  renders  him  a  distinctive  force  in  all  his  relations.  This  character- 
istic, although  somewhat  limiting  his  intimacies,  very  markedly  reinforces  his 
friendships.  He  has  been  decidedly  a  pioneer  in  lopping  off  from  his  specialty 
much  that  was  merely  traditional,  undesirable  and  irrelevant. 


FRANK  GARY,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Frank  Gary  is  a  physician  who  is  not  only  beloved  in  every  home  into 
which  he  enters,  alike  for  his  professional  skill  and  for  his  many  admirable 
qualities  as  a  man,  but  who  is  also  held  in  high  esteem  among  his  professional 
brethren,  because  of  his  rare  skill  as  a  specialist.  He  comes  of  stanch  old 
Puritan  stock,  and  his  genealogy  is  one  of  which  he  may  feel  pardonably 
proud. 

The  first  American  ancestor  of  whom  any  record  has  been  preserved 
was  John  Gary,  who  left  Bristol,  England,  in  1634,  to  become  one  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony.  His  name  appears  as  one  of  the  beneficiaries  in  the  original 
grants  made  by  Ousamequin,  the  Sachem,  or  chief,  of  the  Packonockett 
Indians,  in  1639,  to  Milles  Standish,  Samuel  Nash  and  Constant  Southworth, 
in  trust  for  William  Bradford,  John  Gary,  and  others  therein  named.  He 
was  a  man  of  muscular  frame,  strong  and  athletic  in  his  physical  development, 
after  the  manner  of  his  line.  His  family  is  one  of  the  most  illustrious  in 
England,  more  than  one  page  of  the  history  of  that  country  having  been 
illumined  by  their  achievements.  In  "Burke's  History  of  the  Landed  Gentry 
of  England,"  many  interesting  facts  relative  to  the  family  history  are  given, 
while  "Burke's  Peerage"  presents  a  fac  simile  of  the  Gary  coat-of-arms. 
Arms :  Argentum ;  Three  white  Roses  on  a  bend  sable.  Crest :  a  swan  ppr. 
Motto,  Virtnte  excerptae. 

Joseph  Gary,  son  of  John,  was  born  at  Bridgewater  in  1663.  While  yet 
a  young  man  he  removed  to  Norwich,  and  became  one  of  the  original  proprie- 
tors of  Windham,  and  on  February  9,  1694,  purchased  1,000  acres  of  land. 
He  was  one  of  the  town's  most  prominent  and  influential  citizens,  being  re- 
peatedly called  upon  to  take  an  important  part  in  public  affairs,  civil,  military 
and  ecclesiastical,  and  filling  many  offices  of  high  trust  and  grave  responsi- 
bility. He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of 
Windham,  and  at  the  time  of  its  organization,  December  10,  1709,  was  chosen 
a  deacon,  which  office  he  continued  to  hold  until  his  death.  So  high  was  the 
esteem  in  which  he  was  held,  that  he  was  buried  by  his  fellow  townsmen 
under  arms,  at  that  time  a  most  unusual  tribute  of  respect.  In  physique  and 
strength  he  resembled  his  father,  as,  indeed,  did  also  his  posterity. 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  67 

Jabez  Gary,  son  of  Joseph,  was  born  in  July,  1691,  in  Norwich,  and  died 
at  Mansfield,  Connecticut,  in  1760. 

Joseph  Gary  (2),  son  of  Jabez,  was  born  in  Windham  in  September, 
1723,  and  died  in  Williamsburg,  Massachusetts,  in  1765. 

Richard  Gary,  his  son,  born  in  Mansfield,  Connecticut,  in  January,  1759, 
was  one  of  the  intrepid  patriots  of  1776,  and  for  seven  years  served  in  the 
armies  of  the  Colonies  against  the  forces  of  the  Crown  and  passed  away  in 
December,  1841. 

Luther  H.  Gary,  son  of  Richard,  was  born  at  Williamsburg,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  February,  1800.  At  his  death  he  left  a  son,  Amzi  B. 

Amzi  B.  Gary,  son  of  Luther  H.,  was  born  in  Boston,  Erie  county,  New 
York,  August  3,  1830.  He  studied  medicine  at  Rush  Medical  College  in  the 
earlier  years  of  that  institution's  history,  among  his  preceptors  being  Drs. 
N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  Brainard  and  Freer.  He  inherited  the  patriotism  and  mili- 
tary spirit  of  his  Revolutionary  grandsire,  and  in  May,  1862,  he  entered  the 
service  of  his  country  as  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  Twelfth  Wisconsin  Regi- 
ment, with  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant.  Within  a  few  months  he  was  forced 
to  return  home,  broken  in  health  from  exposure  and  overwork,  and  he  died 
in  September  following  his  enlistment.  His  wife,  whom  he  married  in  Wis- 
consin, was  Ellen  Wade,  a  daughter  of  Sylvanus  and  Betsey  (Oakley)  Wade, 
the  former  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  latter  of  Pennsylvania. 

Dr.  Frank  Gary  was  born  in  Calumet,  Calumet  county,  Wisconsin,  Octo- 
ber 21,  1857.  He  received  his  academic  education  at  Cornell  University,  and 
began  his  professional  studies  under  the  tuition  of  Professor  Burt  C.  Wilder. 
He  graduated  from  Rush  Medical  College  in  1882,  and  immediately  after, 
receiving  his  degree  went  to  the  Wisconsin  State  Asylum,  at  Winnebago, 
where  for  several  months  lie  was  engaged  as  an  assistant  to  Dr.  Kempster, 
the  institution's  superintendent.  Returning  to  Chicago,  he  was  made  Interne 
at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  later  being  appointed  Pathologist.  There  he  re- 
mained for  a  year  and  a  half,  when  he  went  to  New  York  City,  to  pursue  his 
studies  under  the  eminent  Professor  William  Welch.  On  his  return  to 
Chicago,  in  1884,  he  began  the  general  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery,  but 
of  late  years  he  has  confined  himself  almost  wholly  to  obstetrical  practice. 
He  has  been  Obstetrician  at  the  Michael  Reese  Hospital,  and  fills  the  same 
position  at  St.  Luke's. 

By  the  way  of  attesting  the  position  which  Dr.  Cary  holds,  both  in  the 
profession  and  in  the  community  at  large,  it  is  worth  while  to  quote,  in  this 
connection,  the  following  words  of  encomium  written  concerning  him  by  the 
skillful  surgeon.  Dr.  Ridlon :  "Dr.  Cary  has  no  peer  in  Chicago  in  his 
special  work— obstetrics.  Earnest,  devoted,  unsparing  of  himself,  strictly 
honest,  alike  with  his  patients  and  himself,  he  quickly  wins  the  confidence  and 


68  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

the  hearts  of  all  who  come  to  know  him.  Some  one  has  said  that  all  cele- 
brities have  in  their  make-up  something  of  the  charlatan.  This  quality  is 
wholly  lacking  in  Dr.  Gary,  and  perhaps  because  of  this  he  has  not  attained 
to  the  world-wide  fame  to  which  his  sterling  qualities  justly  entitle  him." 

To  this  high  tribute  to  his  worth  as  a  surgeon  and  a  man,  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis,  Sr.,  adds :  "Dr.  Gary,  during  the  eighteen  years  which  have  elapsed 
since  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession,  has  acquired  a  high  social 
and  professional  standing.  With  mental  capacity  of  a  high  order,  coupled 
with  habits  of  close  and  continual  study,  and  an  early  appointment  on  the 
staff  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  he  has  advanced  to  a  reputation  and  obstetrical 
practice  in  the  best  circles  of  society,  not  surpassed  by  any  of  his  contem- 
poraries in  this  city." 

That  higher  honors  await  him  is  a  proposition  of  which  those  who  know 
him  best  entertain  no  doubt.  While  broad-minded,  he  is  far-seeing;  while 
laudably  ambitious,  he  is  modest  and  sincere,  choosing  rather  to  keep  in  the 
background  than  to  expose  himself  to  the  charge  of  self-assertiveness.  These 
pronounced  traits  of  his  character  are  clearly  brought  out  by  that  eminent 
surgeon,  Dr.  Henry  T.  Byford,  who,  in  writing  of  Dr.  Gary,  says:  "Perhaps 
the  most  salient  characteristic  of  Dr.  Frank  Gary  is  breadth.  While  practicing 
the  specialty  of  obstetrics  he  was  delivering  a  course  of  lectures  in  the  Wo- 
man's Medical  School  of  the  Northwestern  University  on  the  Principles  and 
Practice  of  Medicine,  and  refusing  to  apply  for  a  Professorship  of  Obstetrics 
that  was  open  to  him  in  a  larger  school.  He  wished  to  build  his  special  prac- 
tice on  a  broad  firm  base.  He  has  done  so,  and  is  considered  by  both  the  pro- 
fession and  the  laity  to  be  at  the  head.  He  is  exceedingly  popular,  and  once 
employed,  always  employed." 

It  is  not,  however,  solely  in  his  professional  life  that  the  Doctor  has  won 
the  esteem  and  love  of  those  with  whom  he  has  come  in  contact.  As  a  man, 
he  is  honored  alike  for  his  inborn  nobility  of  soul  and  his  fidelity  as  a  fiiend. 
Writing  of  him  from  the  standpoint  of  one  who  has  known  him  long  and 
well.  Dr.  I.  N.  Danforth  says :  "It  is  fortunate  for  a  man  when  he  happens 
to  strike  the  profession  for  which  he  is  best  fitted.  Thus  fortunate  was  Frank 
Gary,  who  adorns  his  chosen  calling  obstetricy  to  a  degree  which  few  can 
equal.  But  I,  myself,  best  know  Frank  Gary  as  a  delightful  man ;  a  high-toned 
gentleman,  whose  honor  is  dearer  to  him  than  anything  else;  a  true  friend, 
who  fails  not  in  seeing,  hearing  or  doing  when  his  helping  hand  is  needed, 
and  who  is  the  same  year  in  and  year  out.  By  hard  work,  conscientious  ef- 
fort and  unremitting  study,  combined  with  eminent  ability,  he  has  wrought 
out  a  reputation  in  obstetricy  which  is  founded  on  a  rock,  and  it  will  stand 
firm  under  all  trials.  Moreover  he  is  an  ideal  citizen,  and  above  all,  a  most 
charming  and  noble  man  in  his  own  home,  where  men  are  so  apt  to  exhibit 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  69 

their  worst  qualities.  Would  that  there  were  more  like  Frank  Gary  in  the 
ranks  of  medicine." 

Dr.  Gary  is  a  valued  and  influential  member  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  the  Chicago  Medical  Association,  and  the  Medico-Legal  So- 
ciety. 

On  August  13,  1885,  Dr.  Gary  was  married  to  Miss  Harriet  Heyl,  who 
was  born  in  Dunkirk,  New  York,  a  daughter  of  Louis  Heyl,  a  well  known 
merchant  of  that  city.  Mrs.  Gary  is  a  graduate  of  Cornell  University,  and 
has  received  the  degree  of  M.  D.  from  the  Blackwell's  Medical  College  of 
New  York  City.  Three  children  were  born  of  this  marriage :  Eugene, 
Louis  H.  and  t31ara. 


WILLIAM  E.  QUINE,  M.  D. 

The  story  of  the  singularly  successful  career  of  Dr.  William  E.  Quine, 
the  eminent  physician,  is  full  of  interest,  affording,  as  it  does,  a  noteworthy 
illustration  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  rare  mental  power  when  com- 
bined with  indefatigable  energy  and  persistent  hard  work.  While  still  in  the 
vigor  of  middle  life,  he  has  already  been  the  recipient  of  many  distinguished 
honors  from  his  professional  brethren,  from  his  Church  and  from  his  State, 
and  seemingly  he  has  yet  before  him  many  years  of  usefulness  and  distinction. 

Dr.  Ouine's  birthplace  was  the  quaint  old  town  of  Kirk  St.  Ann,  in  the 
Isle  of  Man,  with  whose  delightful  dialect  and  curious  customs  the  genius  of 
Hall  Caine  has  made  the  American  reading  world  familiar.  His  father  was 
William  Quine,  and  his  mother's  maiden  name  was  Margaret  Kinley.  Born 
on  February  9,  1847,  ne  accompanied  his  parents  to  America  when  he  was 
a  child  of  six  years.  The  family  settled  at  Chicago,  and  it  was  in  the  city's 
grammar  schools  and  at  the  old  "Central"  High  school  that  the  youth  received 
his  rudimentary  training.  After  leaving  school  he  began  the  study  of  Phar- 
macy and  Materia  Medica,  to  which  he  brought  an  aptitude  derived  alike  from 
native  talent  and  inborn  tastes.  His  theoretical  studies  were  supplemented 
by  practical  experience  as  a  drug  clerk,  and  in  1866,  feeling  a  vocation  to  a 
higher  field,  he  matriculated  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College.  As  a  student, 
his  course  was  exceptionally  brilliant.  Before  graduation  he  was  appointed, 
after  undergoing  the  ordeal  of  a  competitive  examination,  an  Interne  in  the 
Cook  County  Hospital.  He  has  the  honor  of  being  the  only  undergraduate 
of  the  rank  of  a  junior  medical  student  who  has  ever  been  elected  to  the 
house-staff  of  the  County  Hospital  over  competing  graduates.  In  this  position 
his  earnest  enthusiasm  and  devotion  to  duty  at  once  challenged  the  respectful 
admiration  of  his  superiors,  and  after  passing  through  various  gradations  in 


70  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

the  service  he  was,  in  1870,  made  Attending  Obstetrician  and  Gynecologist 
to  the  hospital  by  the  medical  board.  He  continued  to  discharge  the  difficult 
and  responsible  duties  attaching  to  that  position  for  ten  years,  alike  with  honor 
to  himself  and  advantage  to  the  institution  and  its  beneficiaries. 

Before  being  thus  honored,  however,  he  had  received  the  degree  of 
M.  D.  (1869),  and  such  proficiency  had  he  developed  in  Materia  Medica  and 
Therapeutics,  that  he  had  scarcely  become  an  alumnus,  when  his  Alma  Mater 
summoned  him  to  fill  that  Chair  in  her  Faculty  of  distinguished  men.  To 
appreciate  the  true  worth  of  such  a  distinction  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
Dr.  Quine  was  then  scarcely  past  twenty-two  years  of  age.  As  a  lecturer  he 
was  popular,  being  not  only  thoroughly  qualified  in  scholarship,  but  also  en- 
dowed with  the  rare  gifts  of  oratory,  ready  diction  and  personal  magnetism. 
Dr.  Nicholas  Senn,  speaking  of  his  capability  as  a  lecturer,  says  of  him :  "Dr. 
Quine  is  one  of  the  most  eloquent  lecturers  on  medicine  in  the  country.  His 
style  of  delivery  is  forcible,  and  each  sentence  teaches  its  own  lesson.'' 

In  1883,  Dr.  Quine  severed  his  connection  with  the  Chicago  Medical 
College,  to  accept  the  Professorship  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine and  Clinical  Medicine  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  which 
was  then  rapidly  forging  to  the  front  among  the  medical  schools  of  the  North- 
west. It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  it  was  largely  due  to  his  sagacious,  untir- 
ing assiduity,  no  less  than  to  his  personal  influence  with  his  associates,  that 
this  college  was  amalgamated  with  the  University  of  Illinois;  and  it  was  in 
recognition  of  this  service,  no  less  than  of  his  rare  qualifications,  that  he  was 
made  Dean  of  the  School  of  Medicine  by  the  Executive  Board  of  the  Uni- 
versity. 

From  what  has  been  already  said,  it  may  be  easily  inferred  that  during 
his  three  decades  of  professional  life  in  Chicago,  Dr.  Quine  has  been  one  of 
the  busiest  of  practitioners.  His  practice  has  grown  to  be  large  and  lucrative, 
and  each  year  it  partakes  more  and  more  of  the  character  of  consultation 
work.  He  still  retains  his  chair  in  the  Faculty  of  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons,  and  he  is  justly  ranked  among  the  best  equipped  and  most  suc- 
cessful medical  instructors  of  the  country. 

Few  men  are  held  in  higher,  esteem  among  his  brethren.  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis,  Sr.,  of  world  wide  renown,  says  that  he  is  pre-eminently  a  "strong, 
self-made  man,  untiring  in  industry;  a  successful  practitioner  and  teacher, 
and  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  every  duty."  To  which  the  distinguished  Dr. 
Frank  Billings  adds  the  following  encomium :  "For  twenty-two  years  I  have 
known  Dr.  Quine  as  a  medical  teacher  and  practitioner.  He  is  an  ideal 
teacher;  a  forceful,  logical  and  clear  lecturer,  to  whom  it  is  a  delight  to  listen. 
Dr.  Quine  has  the  faculty  of  making  students  work  to  attain  a  high  standard 
of  excellence.  Few  teachers  have  the  power  to  arouse  an  equal  enthusiasm. 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  71 

A  still  higher  proof  of  his  capability  in  this  line  is  afforded  by  the  loyalty  and 
respect  cherished  for  him  by  his  students,  alike  past  and  present.  What  more 
can  be  said  of  a  teacher  than  that  his  students  of  twenty  years  ago  have  never 
found  cause  to  unlearn  what  he  taught  ?  As  a  practitioner  Dr.  Quine  has  few 
equals  and  no  superiors,  either  in  general  or  consultation  practice.  A  splendid 
diagnostician,  he  exhausts  the  possibilities  of  each  case  by  the  application, 
when  necessary,  of  all  the  methods  of  precision  in  diagnosis.  Logical  and 
sound  in  his  analysis  of  the  expressions  of  disease,  he  applies  hygienic  and 
medicinal  methods  of  relief  in  a  manner  equally  scientific." 

For  several  terms  Dr.  Quine  served  as  President  of  the  State  Board  of 
Health,  discharging  his  obligations  to  the  State  with  the  same  unwearying 
patience  and  unswerving  fidelity,  which  have  characterized  him  in  private 
practice.  He  has  been  a  frequent  and  most  highly  valued  contributor  to  med- 
ical journals,  his  trenchant  style,  joined  to  profound  learning,  always  arrest- 
ing and  holding  the  attention  of  thoughtful,  scholarly  readers.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society, 
the  Chicago  Medical  Society  (having  been,  perhaps,  the  youngest  presiding 
officer  of  that  body  of  eminent  men),  and  of  the  Medico-Legal  Society  of  Chi- 
cago. The  eminent  surgeon  J.  B.  Murphy  writes :  "Dr.  William  E.  Quine 
as  a  man  is  an  altruist;  as  a  physician  he  is  of  the  old  school,  and  is  the  high- 
est of  its  ideal  types ;  as  a  medical  lecturer,  he  probably  has  no  equal  in  Amer- 
ica. His  discourses  are  truly  classical.  He  is  a  deeply  religious  man.  the 
great  Master  being  his  ideal  physician.  By  his  persistent  devotion,  untiring 
energy  and  loftiness  of  purpose,  he  has  created  for  the  State  of  Illinois  a  great 
medical  school,  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  of  which  he  is  Dean." 

Dr.  Christian  Fenger  writes :  "Dr.  Quine  has  been  for  many  years  one 
of  the  most  prominent  figures  in  medical  education  in  this  city.  He  possesses 
exceptional  gifts  as  a  lecturer  and  a  teacher.  He  is  beloved  by  his  students 
and  esteemed  by  his  colleagues  in  the  profession." 

In  his  physical  build  Dr.  Quine  reminds  one  of  the  hackneyed  quotation 
from  Horace,  "mens  sana  in  corpore  sano."  While  not  above  medium  height, 
he  is  of  strong,  rugged  build,  while  his  mien  tells  of  repose  and  dignity  of 
character.  To  him  work  is  pleasant  and  fatigue  comparatively  unknown. 
His  mind  is  clear,  and  both  his  perceptive  and  reflective  powers  are  ever  on 
the  alert.  His  patriotic  impulses  are  strong,  and  his  religious  convictions  are 
of  that  deep,  abiding  sort  which  is  not  infrequently  associated  with  characters 
of  moral  virility.  To  a  ready  fluency  of  speech  he  joins  a  quick  perception  of 
humor,  and  a  latent  capacity  for  caustic  satire.  Methodical  in  his  habits,  he 
is  ever  ready  to  subordinate  his  own  preferences  to  the  wishes  of  his  con- 
freres, despite  the  fact  that  few  men  are  endowed  with  his  rare  faculty  of 


72  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

organization.  And  while  not  unduly  neglectful  of  his  own  interests,  has 
never  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  appeal  of  the  poor. 

His  religious  faith  is  that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  of  which 
he  is  a  devout  and  consistent  member,  having  rilled  the  post  of  president  of 
that  strong,  influential  and  typical  association  of  Methodist  laymen  known  as 
the  Methodist  Social  Union.  In  private  life  his  virtues  are  no  less  conspicu- 
ous ;  loyally  devoted  to  his  family,  he  is  sincerely  true  as  a  friend. 

In  1876  Dr.  Quine  was  married  to  Miss  Lettie  Mason,  of  Normal,  Illi- 
nois. Mrs.  Quine  was  a  lady  of  ripe  culture  and  extensive  travel,  as  well  as 
unusual  native  ability.  As  a  medical  missionary  to  China,  she  won  merited 
distinction  through  her  unfaltering  zeal  and  her  heroic  self-abnegation.  She 
died  June  14,  1903. 


ABRAHAM  REEVES  JACKSON,  M.  D. 

The  late  Abraham  Reeves  Jackson,  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Philadel- 
phia, June  17,  1827,  and  died  in  Chicago,  November  12,  1892.  He  was  a  son 
of  Washington  and  Deborah  (Lee)  Jackson,  and  received  his  primary  and 
academic  education  in  the  public  schools  and  the  Central  High  School  of  his 
native  city.  Soon  after  graduating  from  the  High  School  he  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Medicine,  from  which  he 
graduated  M.  D.,  in  1848,  aged  twenty-one  years.  He  commenced  practice 
in  Kresgeville,  Pennsylvania,  but  the  next  year  moved  to  Columbia,  New 
Jersey,  where  he  remained  only  a  few  months,  and  then  established  himself 
in  practice  in  Stroudsburg,  Pennsylvania,  that  continuing  to  be  his  home 
until  1870.  During  the  Civil  war,  however,  he  entered  the  army  medical 
service,  first  as  Assistant  Surgeon  and  subsequently  as  Surgeon,  and  for.  a 
limited  time,  as  Assistant  Medical  Director  of  the  army  in  Virginia.  In  1867 
he  crossed  the  Atlantic  as  Surgeon  to  the  ship  "Quaker  City,"  and  in  1870  he 
moved  to  Chicago  and  adopted  as  a  special  practice  the  surgical  diseases 
of  women,  or  Surgical  Gynecology.  By  securing  the  co-operation  of  several 
influential  men  and  women,  a  charter  was  obtained  from  the  Illinois  State 
Legislature  for  the  organization  of  the  Woman's  Hospital  of  the  State  of 
Illinois,  designed  solely  for  the  reception  and  treatment  of  gynecological 
patients,  in  1871.  The  hospital  was  opened  for  patients  the  following  year 
with  Dr.  Jackson  as  Surgeon-in-Chief.  During  the  next  ten  years  he  ac- 
quired a  fair  practice  in  his  chosen  specialty,  and  became  an  active  member 
of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  and  of 
the  American  Medical  Association.  In  1881  he  in  conjunction  with  Drs. 
C.  W.  Enrle.  D.  A.  K.  Steele,  S.  A.  McWilliams.  E.  P.  Murdock.  and  Leonard 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URDANA 


graved,  lj  Samatl  S 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  73 

St.  John,  organized  a  nexv  medical  college  under  the  general  incorporation 
laws  of  Illinois,  called  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  now  known 
as  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Illinois  State  University.  The  first  term 
of  the  new  medical  school  was  opened  September  26,  1882,  with  Dr.  Jack- 
son as  Professor  of  Surgical  Diseases  of  Women  and  Clinical  Gynecology, 
and  also  President  of  the  College,  offices  which  he  continued  to  hold  until  his 
death,  in  1892,  with  a  Steadily  increasing  influence  and  reputation  both  as 
a  teacher  and  practitioner  of  surgery.  In  addition  to  the  three  leading  medi- 
cal societies  already  named  he  was  an  active  member  and  president  of  the 
American  Association  of  Gynecologists,  and  corresponding  member,  of  the 
Boston  Gynecological  Society.  His  attention,  however,  was  not  entirely 
limited  to  professional  topics,  but  he  was  also  a  member  of  the  Chicago 
Academy  of  Sciences,  the  Illinois  State  Microscopical  Society,  and  of  the 
Chicago  Medico-Historical  Society.  He  wrote  no  text-book  or  treatise  on 
any  department  of  medicine.  He,  however,  reported  many  interesting  cases 
and  papers  to  the  various  medical  societies  of  which  he  was  a  member  and 
to  the  medical  periodicals  of  the  day. 

Dr.  Jackson  possessed  a  strong,  well  proportioned,  physical  development, 
and  intellectual  faculties  of  rare  breadth  and  activity.  In  all  his  social  and 
professional  intercourse  he  was  genial,  kind  and  generous.  Yet  he  possessed 
that  mental  positiveness  and  active  ambition  that  necessarily  made  him  a 
leader  in  every  enterprise  in  which  he  was  engaged.  His  death  was  caused 
by  an  attack  of  apoplexy,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  He  left  a  wife 
and  daughters,  but  no  sons,  to  mourn  on  account  of  their  irreparable  loss. 
—  [N.  S.  DAVIS,  M.  D.,  SR. 


DR.  JOHN  B.  MURPHY. 

This  eminent  practitioner,  who  stands  easily  in  the  very  foremost  rank 
of  American  surgeons,  and  whose  fame  extends  over  two  continents,  was  born 
in  Appleton,  Wisconsin,  December  21,  1857.  His  boyhood  was  passed  upon 
a  farm,  where  he  developed  those  magnificent  powers  of  physical  endurance 
which  came  to  him  by  inheritance,  and  which  have  stood  him  in  such  good 
stead  during  a  life  of  arduous,  unremitting  professional  labor.  His  early  edu- 
cational advantages  were  those  afforded  by  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
place,  and  after  graduating  from  the  Appleton  high  school,  he  at  once  began 
the  study  of  his  chosen  profession.  His  first  preceptor  was  Dr.  John  R. 
Reilly,  also  of  Appleton.  He  subsequently  completed  a  course  at  Rush  Med- 
ical College,  receiving  his  degree  in  1879.  In  February,  of  that  year,  he  was 


74  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 


a  successful  candidate  for  the  position  of  Interne  at  the  Gwk  County  Hos- 
pital, and  continued  to  discharge  his  duties  until  October,  1880,  when  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  Dr.  Edward  W.  Lee,  at  that  time  an  Attending 
Surgeon  at  the  hospital,  a  connection  which  continued  for  ten  years. 

In  September,  1882,  Dr.  Murphy  went  abroad  with  a  view  to  pursuing 
his  clinical  studies  in  the  great  educational  centers  of  Europe.  For  eighteen 
months  he  availed  himself  of  the  opportunities  afforded  in  the  hospitals  of 
Vienna,  Berlin,  Heidelberg,  Munich  and  London,  returning  to  Chicago  in 
April,  1884.  From  that  time  until  the  present  he  has  been  actively  engaged 
in  practice  in  that  city,  although  of  late  years  he  has  devoted  himself  wholly 
to  surgery. 

Few  of  his  contemporaries  have  achieved  a  higher,  more  widespread, 
or  better  deserved,  reputation  as  a  surgeon  than  he.  Every  physician  is 
willing  to  concede  that  the  practice  of  surgery,  like  the  profession  of  medi- 
cine, because  of  its  very  nature,  cannot  be  reckoned  as  one  of  the  exact 
sciences,  and  Dr.  Murphy  is  one  of  those  few,  rarely  gifted  men,  who  seem 
endowed  with  an  intuitive  perception  of  probabilities,  whereby  he  is  im- 
measurably aided  in  arriving  at  correct  conclusions.  The  sentiment  of  the 
profession  toward  him,  and  the  recognition  by  its  members  of  this  rare  char- 
acteristic, is  well  expressed  by  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr..  who  says  of  him:  "Dr.. 
Murphy  is  one  of  those  active,  thoroughly  practical  surgeons  who  is  not  con- 
tent to  follow  implicitly  the  routine  prescribed  by  authorities.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  boldly  devises  new  operative  procedures,  such  as  his  'button'  for 
uniting  severed  intestines,  and  the  compression  of  the  lung  for  the  cure  of 
tuberculosis,  which  have  widened  his  reputation  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic." 

Another  equally  pronounced  trait  in  Dr.  Murphy's  character  is  the 
promptitude  with  which  he  acts  when  once  his  conclusion  has  been  reached. 
Hesitancy  is  foreign  to  his  restlessly  energetic  temperament,  while  the  ac- 
curacy of  his  conception  is  unusually  equaled  by  the  brilliant  success  attending 
its  execution.  Speaking  of  his  distinguished  ability  in  this  direction,  Dr. 
Frank  Billings  says  :  "He  has  a  striking  personality.  It  is  impossible  to  meet 
him  without  recognizing  at  once  a  masterful  man.  His  natural  ability  and 
his  culture  are  recognized  by  the  medical  world.  Few  men  have  gained  so 
great  a  reputation  in  twenty  years.  His  ability  as  a  diagnostician  of  surgical 
diseases  and  his  skill  as  a  surgeon  are  phenomenal.  I  never  saw  a  more  dex- 
trous operator.  He  has  wondrous  executive  ability,  and  in  consequence  it  is 
a  pleasure  to  see  the  quiet,  orderly,  unhesitating  and  rapid  completion  of  an 
operation  under  his  hands,  with  the  aid  of  his  silent  and  ready  assistants." 

Few  men  of  his  years  have  had  honors  heaped  so  thickly  upon  them. 
His  unexcelled  skill  has  won.  for  him  the  Chair  of  Surgery  in  the  Northwest- 
ern University  Medical  School,  the  Chicago  Clinical  School,  and  the  Post- 


PHYSICIANS    AND   SURGEONS.  75 

Graduate  Medical  School  and  Hospital  of  Chicago.  For  eighteen  years  he  has 
been  attending  surgeon  to  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  and  sustains  the  same 
relation  to  the  Alexian  Brothers'  Hospital,  as  well  as  to  the  West  Side  and 
Mercy  Hospitals.  He  is  also  consulting  surgeon  to  St.  Joseph's  and  to  the 
Hospital  for  Crippled  Children.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  International 
Congress  of  Rome  and  Moscow,  and  foreign  societies  have  honored  both 
themselves  and  him  by  electing  him  to  membership — the  Surgical  Society  of 
Paris  and  the  Deutsche  Gesellschaft  fiir  Chirurgie.  Of  the  last  named  body 
he  is  a  life  member.  Among  the  American  organizations  with  which  he  is 
connected  the  most  prominent  are  the  American  Surgical  Association,  the 
American  Medical  Association,  the  American  Association  of  Obstetricians 
and  Gynecologists,  the  Academy  of  Medicine  of  Chicago,  and  the  Chicago 
Surgical  Society. 

His  principal  professional  writings  have  been :  "Gunshot  Wounds  of 
the  Abdomen;"  "Actinomycosis  Hominis"  (he  was  the  first  surgeon  to  rec- 
ognize the  disease  in  America)  ;  "Early  Operation  in  Perityphlitis ;"  "Early 
Operation  in  Appendicitis;"  "Echinococcus  Hepatis;"  "Original  Experimen- 
tal Researches  in  the  Surgery  of  the  Gall  Bladder  and  Intestinal  Tract"  (illus- 
trating the  utility  and  application  of  his  anastomosis  button)  ;  "Ileus,  its  Di- 
agnosis and  Treatment;"  "Surgery  of  the  Lung,  Experimental  and  Clinical;" 
"Surgery  of  the  Blood  Vessels,  Resection  and  End-to-end  Union  of  Arteries 
and  Veins  Injured  in  Continuity;"  "Traumatisms  of  the  Urinary  Tract;" 
"Intestinal  Fistulae,  Pathology  and  Treatment;"  "Surgery  of  the  Gasserian 
Ganglion;"  "Tuberculosis  of  the  Testicle  treated  by  Epididymectomy ;"  "Plas- 
tic Surgery  of  the  Face;"  "Surgery  of  the  Prostate;"  "Tuberculosis  of  Fe- 
male Genitalia  and  Peritoneum ;"  and  "The  Year-book  of  Surgery." 

His  professional  brethren  have  written  much  of  him.  Dr.  Nicholas 
Senn :  "Dr.  John  B.  Murphy  is  a  self-made  man  who  has  reached  the  posi- 
tion he  now  occupies  in  the  surgical  world  by  his  own  efforts.  He  is  an  orig- 
inal thinker  and  investigator.  His  anastomosis  button,  after  a  long  trial,  re- 
mains in  extensive  use." 

Dr.  Christian  Fenger  wrote:  "Dr.  Murphy  is  an  earnest  student  whose 
success  is  well  deserved.  His  mechanical  ability,  technical  skill  and  contribu- 
tions to  the  literature  have  combined  to  make  his  name  well  known  both  in 
Europe  and  America." 

Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot  writes :  "Two  decades  ago  the  late  Wil- 
bur F.  Story,  editor  of  the  Cliicago  Times,  commenting  upon  medical 
students,  remarked  that  he  did  not  see  how  it  was  possible  to 
make  gentlemanly,  refined  physicians  out  of  such  hilarious,  restless 
material.  Dr.  John  B.  Murphy  was  one  of  those  students,  who, 
coming  from  a  country  home,  full  of  life  and  ambition,  soon  be- 


76  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

came  an  enthusiastic  scientist.  Though  requirements  of  attendance  upon 
lectures  was  not  as  rigid  twenty  years  ago  as  today,  Murphy  the  student  was 
always  present,  neglecting  nothing  in  lecture  or  clinic  which  would  be  useful 
to  the  physician  and  surgeon  in  after  life.  His  fertile  brain  was  always  ready 
to  grasp  all  things  that  were  taught,  and,  as  history  has  shown,  to  apply 
such  teachings  to  the.  best  advantage.  Ambition  and  restlessness  made  him 
a  life  long  student.  Not  satisfied  with  the  teachings  of  his  college  days,  he  has 
spent  a  lifetime  in  study  and  original  research.  Such  ambition,  backed  by  a 
strong,  well  developed  physique,  has  naturally  given  Dr.  Murphy  a  world- 
wide reputation  for  skill  and  original  methods  of  practice.  Kind  and  chari- 
table to  his  patients,  affable  and  agreeable  to  his  fellow  practitioners,  Dr. 
Murphy  is  an  excellent  type  of  the  cultured  American  physician." 

Dr.  William  E.  Quine  writes :  "I  regard  Dr.  John  B.  Mxirphy  as  a  great 
man.  He  is  one  of  the  good  surgeons  of  the  world,  accurate  as  a  diagnosti- 
cian, expert  as  an  operator,  and  prominent  as  a  teacher  of  surgery.  He  is  a 
student  of  tireless  industry  with  a  mind  not  bound  by  authority,  but  disposed 
to  original  research.  His  numerous  contributions  to  the  literature  of  his  pro- 
fession are  enough  to  give  him  high  standing  without  further  effort  on  his 
part.  Dr.  Murphy  is  a  man  of  commanding  presence  and  conspicuous  neat- 
ness, pleasing  personality  and  the  highest  moral  standard.  He  is  courteous 
and  friendly  always,  a  genial  companion  and  a  loyal  friend.  He  is  true  to 
every  trust  reposed  in  him.  As  a  man  of  affairs  he  deserves  to  rank  with  the 
most  eminent  of  our  successful  business  men.  As  a  citizen  he  is  public  spir- 
ited, charitable  and  of  extensive  influence.  He  is  quick  and  springy  in  every 
movement,  and  his  mental  processes  are  just  as  active.  He  is  a  penetrating 
observer,  a  rapid  and  accurate  reasoner,  and  a  quick  and  dauntless  operator." 

Perhaps  no  better  conclusion  can  be  given  to  this  necessarily  imperfect 
sketch  of  an  eminent  man  than  the  following  eulogy  upon  him  by  Dr.  John 
Ridlon :  "The  most  brilliant  figure  in  surgery  in  the  West,  and  perhaps  the 
most  brilliant  in  the  country,  is  Dr.  John  B.  Murphy.  It  is  no  small  thing  to 
go  in  the  front  rank  with  the  most  favoring  environment,  but  it  means  much 
more  to  gain  that  rank  from  obscurity,  with  the  opposition,  or  at 
least  without  the  support,  of  the  strongest  workers  in  the  field.  Thus  Dr. 
Murphy  must  be  accorded  greater  credit  for  success  than  for  the  work  which 
he  has  done  in  surgery,  which  work  alone  would  place  him  in  the  front  rank. 
By  this  I  mean  that  a  man  may  gain  a  place  without  professional  skill,  pro- 
vided he  has  within  him  the  qualities  of  success ;  or  a  man  may  gain  a  place 
without  those  qualities  provided  he  has  professional  skill,,  and  can  do  better 
than  another  those  things  that  need  to  be  done,  or  those  things  that  no  other 
can  do.  Dr.  Murphy  can  do  things  and  do  them  in  a  way  that  counts,  for 
success.  When  I  first  met  him,  some  ten  years  ago,  he  was  modestly  seeking 
the  recognition  which  he  felt  his  due;  today,  the  world  (of  surgery)  is  his." 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  77 

JAMES  VAN  ZANDT  BLANEY,  M.  D. 

Dr.  James  Van  Zandt  Blaney  was  born  Alay  i,  1820,  at  Newcastle,  Dela- 
ware. At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  graduated  from  Princeton  College,  but  re- 
mained there  for  some  time  afterward,  and  pursued  the  study  of  chemistry 
under  the  distinguished  Professor  Joseph  Henry,  subsequently  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institute.  This  post-graduate  course  evinced  the  bent  of  young 
Blaney's  mind,  and  was  the  index  of  his  success  in  the  future.  From  Prince- 
ton he  went  to  Philadelphia,  and  there  studied  medicine,  graduating  with 
honors,  but,  being  under  age,  could  not  receive  his  diploma  until  he  attained 
his  majority.  Ad  interim,  however,  he  walked  the  hospitals,  and  there  gained 
experience  that  was  afterward  fruitful. 

In  1842,  Dr.  Blaney  started  West,  and  was  with  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard  in 
the  founding  of  Rush  Medical  College.  Untiring  in  energy,  unflagging  in 
zeal,  and  of  comprehensive  genius,  he  is  found  rilling  three  Chairs  in  the 
Faculty  of  the  College,  pursuing  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  lecturing  to 
large  and  appreciative  audiences  upon  varied  subjects.  His  versatility  was 
literally  unbounded,  and  his  oratorical  power  was  phenomenal.  What  were 
to  others  achievements  worthy  of  plaudits  from  the  scientific  world  were  to 
him  undertaken  and  fulfilled,  apparently,  only  as  pastime. 

As  an  analytical  chemist,  his  fame  was  cosmopolitan,  and  was  manifested 
in  the  trial  of  George  W.  Green,  the  banker,  who  was  tried  in  1854,  for  the 
murder  of  his  wife  by  poison,  and  convicted  on  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Blaney. 
By  the  use  of  novel  tests,  he  detected  strychnine  in  the  stomach  of  the  mur- 
dered woman,  and  in  open  court,  in  his  usual  clear,  terse  and  convincing  man- 
ner, explained  his  formula  to  the  satisfaction  of  court  and  jury.  Green  had 
carefully  studied  his  subject,  and  believed  himself  quite  safe;  but  he  saw  his 
Nemesis  standing  before  him,  and  at  once  gave  up  all  hope.  The  jury  ren- 
dered their  verdict  of  guilty  without  leaving  their  seats,  and  Green  requested 
a  private  interview  with  Dr.  Blaney,  in  his  cell.  After  thanking  the  Doctor 
for  his  fairness  and  courtesy,  he  exclaimed:  "Dr.  Blaney,  God  Almighty 
must  have  directed  your  investigation,  or  you  never  could  have  detected  the 
poison."  That  same  night  the  wretched  man  hung  himself  in  his  cell.  In 
this  case  there  was  no  proof,  except  that  furnished  by  the  Doctor's  analysis, 
that  strychnine,  or  indeed  any  poison  at  all,  had  been  taken  by  the  deceased. 
Dr.  Blaney's  analysis  was  published  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  creating 
great  excitement,  especially  in  England,  where  the  celebrated  Palmer  murder 
trial  had  just  ended  in  the  conviction  and  execution  of  the  murderer,  in  spite 
of  the  failure  of  the  chemist  to  detect  poison. 

In  1857  Dr.  Blaney  occupied  the  Chair  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  Phi- 
losophy, in  the  Northwestern  University,  at  Evanston,  principally  to  afford 


78  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

him  a  partial  rest,  and  also  to  gratify  his  fondness  for  rural  life.  There  he 
built  a  beautiful  home,  and  laid  out  a  garden  whose  floriculture  made  it  cele- 
brated. In  this  garden  he  tested  the  artificial  fertilizers  that  are  now  so 
prominent  in  agriculture. 

During  1861  he  was  appointed  Surgeon  of  Volunteers,  and  shortly  there- 
after was  appointed  Medical  Director.  At  the  battle  of  Winchester,  he  was 
Surgeon-in-chief  of  Gen.  Phil.  H.  Sheridan's  staff,  and,  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  filled  the  position  of  Medical  Director  and  Purveyor.  On  the  ternina- 
tion  of  the  war,  he  was  delegated  to  pay  off  the  medical  officers  of  the  North- 
west, and  in  furtherance  of  this  duty,  disbursed  more  than  $600,000,  and  was 
promoted  to  be  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

On  leaving  the  army,  Dr.  Blaney  resumed  his  profession  as  a  consulting 
physician  only,  devoting  himself  to  the  science  of  Chemistry,  and  his  skill 
therein  is  thus  attested  by  Lewis  Dodge:  "In  1853,  the  Chicago  Mechanics' 
Institute  advertised  premiums  for  the  be.st  native  wines  and  brandies.  About 
fifty  specimens  of  brandy  were  examined,  and  among  them  was  one  sample 
made  by  Dr.  Blaney,  from  an  essential  oil  or  ether,  obtained  in  refining  a  com- 
mon agricultural  product,  which  was,  in  fact,  the  quintessence  of  brandy. 
The  liquors  were  tested  on  four  different  evenings,  a  careful  record  being  kept, 
and  it  was  found  that  the  committee  had  on  each  trial  marked  Dr.  Blaney's 
artificial  brandy  not  only  the  best,  but  the  oldest.  The  Doctor  assured  the 
writer  that  this  brandy  was  made  within  the  hour  in  which  it  was  tested,  at  a 
cost  not  to  exceed  twenty  cents  a  gallon.  This  discovery,  stupendous  in  its 
possible  consequences,  from  a  deep  sense  of  duty  and  a  noble  self-sacrifice, 
difficult  to  understand,  was  suppressed  by  the  good  Doctor,  and  died  a  secret 
with  its  author." 

On  July  8,  1847,  Dr.  Blaney  was  married  to  Miss  Clarissa  Butler,  daugh- 
ter of  Walter  Butler,  and  niece  of  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Butler.  He  died  Decem- 
ber n,  1874,  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  accomplished  gentlemen  that  ever 
graced  the  medical  profession  of  Chicago,  leaving  four  children :  James  R., 
Charles  D.,  Bessie  and  Cassie. 

James  Van  Zandt  Blaney  was  a  thirty-third  degree  Mason,  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Northern  Jurisdiction  of  the  Ancient  and  Accepted  Rite.  He 
was  Past  Master  of  the  Oriental  Lodge  No.  33,  Companion  of  Lafayette 
Chapter,  R.  A.  M.,  Past  Commander  of  the  Apollo  Commandery,  K.  T.,  and 
was  the  first  Grand  Commander  of  the  Grand  Commandery  of  Knights  Tem- 
plar in  Illinois,  and  Generalissimo  of  the  Grand  Encampment  of  the  United 
States. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  in  writing  of  his  achievements,  says :  "Dr.  James 
V.  Z.  Blaney,  born  in  Newcastle.  Delaware,  in  1820,  was  educated  at  Prince- 
ton, New  Jersey,  and  graduated  in  medicine  from  Jefferson  Medical  College, 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  79 

Philadelphia,  in  1841.  While  a  student  he  manifested  a  special  predilection 
for  chemistry  and  was,  for  a  season,  Assistant  in  the  laboratory  of  Professor 
Henry.  After  spending  the  winter  of  1842  in  St.  Louis,  and  the  following 
summer  visiting  Chicago  and  St.  Paul,  he  was  induced  to  accept  the  Pro- 
fessorship of  Chemistry  and  Materia  Medica  in  Rush  Medical  College,  and 
became  a  resident  of  Chicago.  Possessing  a  nervous  temperament,  an  un- 
usually active  and  comprehensive  mind,  with  all  the  attributes  of  an  edu- 
cated gentleman,  he  quickly  gained  a  high  reputation  as  a  teacher  of  chem- 
istry and  materia  medica,  a  lucrative  practice,  and  an  excellent  social  posi- 
tion. He  participated  actively  in  the  organization  and  support  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society  and  the  Illinois  State  Society  in  1850,  and  took  an  active  in- 
terest in  all  legitimate  public  enterprises.  At  the  commencement  of  the  Civil 
War  he  joined  the  Medical  Corps  of  the  Army,  and  was  mostly  employed  as 
Medical  Director  and  Inspector,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  made 
Medical  Purveyor  at  Chicago,  with  the  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel.  He  soon 
after  resigned,  and  again  resumed  the  duties  of  his  Professorship  in  the  Col- 
lege, until  failure  of  health  compelled  his  final  resignation  and  retirement 
in  1871." 


EDWARD  LORENZO  HOLMES,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Edward  Lorenzo  Holmes  was  born  in  Massachusetts  in  1828.  He 
received  a  good  general  education  and  graduated  from  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment of  Harvard  University,  Boston,  in  1854.  After  serving  one  term  as 
Interne  in  the  Massachusetts  General  Hospital,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  ocean 
and  pursued  medical  studies  one  year  at  the  University  of  Vienna.  Return- 
ing home  in  1856,  he  immediately  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  Chicago,  being  one  of  the  first  in  the  city  to  give  his  chief  attention  to 
Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear.  In  1857  he  became  a  member  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society  and  also  of  the  Illinois  State  Society,  and  remained  an  active 
and  influential  member  of  both  until  his  death.  In  1858  he  procured  the 
organization  of  the  "Illinois  Charitable  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,"  with  a 
board  of  trustees  and  medical  staff  consisting  of  an  Attending  Physician  and 
a  Consulting  Physician  and  Consulting  Surgeon.  The  Infirmary  was 
primarily  established  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  patients  too  poor  to  pay  for 
medical  or  surgical  services,  and  Dr.  Holmes  being  the  attending  physician, 
the  institution  was  open  for  the  reception  of  its  patients  at  certain  hours  in 
the  day  in  close  connection  with  the  Doctor's  office  on  North  Clark  street,  and 
depended  upon  the  contributions  of  a  few  citizens  for  its  support.  In  two  or 
three  years  the  Infirmary  was  moved  to  a  separate  building  on  Pearson 
street,  where  it  remained  until  the  great  fire  of  1871.  At  the  most  active  stage 


8o  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

of  the  Civil  war,  in  1863,  he  volunteered  his  services  as  a  Surgeon,  and  did 
excellent  work  for  a  few  months. 

Soon  after  his  return  he  commenced  giving  clinical  lectures  on  Diseases 
of  the  Eye  and  Ear  in  connection  with  the  Rush  Medical  College,  and  the 
work  in  the  Infirmary  was  much  increased  by  the  admission  of  soldiers  dis- 
abled from  diseases  or  injuries  of  the  Eye  or  Ear.  On  account  of  the  gen- 
erous and  skillful  treatment  given  to  the  soldiers  by  Dr.  Holmes  after  the 
close  of  the  war,  the  Legislatures  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin  several  times  made 
appropriations  of  a  few  thousand  dollars  for  the  support  of  the  Institution. 
It  was  totally  consumed  in  the  great  fire  of  1871.  But  with  untiring  patience 
and  energy  Dr.  Holmes  and  his  friends  commenced  its  re-establishment,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  city.  Fortunately,  however,  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
was  induced  to  accept  the  Infirmary  as  one  of  the  State  Charitable  Institu- 
tions, and  to  make  the  necessary  appropriations  for  its  rebuilding  and  perma- 
nent support.  An  excellent  building  was  erected  at  the  corner  of  West  Adams 
and  Peoria  streets,  in  which  has  been  maintained  one  of  the  best  Infirmaries 
and  Clinical  Schools  for  Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear  in  this  country  until 
the  present  time.  Dr.  Holmes  remained  at  its  head  as  its  guiding  spirit  until 
near  his  death,  a  few  months  since.  In  1868  the  Rush  Medical  College 
created  a  Professorship  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology,  and  Dr.  Holmes  was 
elected  to  fill  the  Chair  thus  created.  He  accepted,  and  continued  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  the  Professorship  with  great  ability  and  increasing  reputation 
until  1898,  when,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  he  resigned  both  his  Professor- 
ship and  the  Presidency  of  the  college,  having  held  the  latter  office  the  pre- 
ceding eight  years.  He  also  took  an  active  part  in  the  organization  and 
management  of  the  Presbyterian  Hospital,  and  was  the  Attending  Oculist 
and  Aurist  of  the  institution.  During  his  whole  professional  career  he  had  a 
large  and  remunerative  practice  in  his  special  departments,  in  which  he  was 
justly  regarded  as  an  authority.  He  was  a  student  of  wide  attainments, 
being  well  versed  in  English,  French  and  German  literature,  both  professional 
and  otherwise.  Yet  he  has  left  but  few  contributions  of  his  own,  except 
brief  reports  to  medical  societies  concerning  his  favorite  specialties. 

Personally  Dr.  Holmes  was  affable,  kind  and  gentlemanly  to  all  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact.  Professionally,  he  was  conservative  in  disposi- 
tion, though  skillful  and  eminently  successful  in  operative  procedures,  and  an 
excellent  teacher  in  his  chosen  departments. 

In  1862  he  \£as  married  to  Miss  Paula  Weiser,  of  Vienna,  Austria,  an 
accomplished  German  lady  whose  acquaintance  he  made  while  pursuing  post- 
graduate studies  in  that  city  in  1857.  About  two  years  since  Dr.  Holmes's 
health  and  strength  began  to  slowly  decline,  and  in  March,  1900.  he  died 
from  an  attack  of  pneumonia,  aged  seventy-two  years.  His  widow  and  five 
children  survive  him.  [N.  S.  DAVIS,  M.  D.,  SR.] 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


I  H     BEERS    SCC. 


(J 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  81 

rf 

EUGENE   SOLOMON  TALBOT,  M.  D.,  D.  D.  S. 

Prof.  Eugene  Solomon  Talbot,  M.  D.,  D.  D.  S.,  who  was  born  at 
Sharon,  Massachusetts,  March  8,  1847,  is  the  descendant  of  an  old  English 
family  resident  in  the  United  States  for  more  than  two  centuries.  The  Talbot 
family,  an  old  Norman  one,  entered  England  with  William  the  Conqueror, 
and  has  branches  in  France,  England,  Ireland  and  the  United  States.  Peter 
Talbot,  the  head  of  the  Lancashire  branch  (and  ancestor  of  the  branch  to 
which  Dr.  Talbot  belongs),  was  seized  by  a  press-gang  and  carried  to  a  ship 
bound  for  Rhode  Island,  whence  he  escaped,  living  many  years  thereafter  at 
Dorchester,  Massachusetts.  He  made  several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  return 
to  England,  but  finally  reconciled  himself  to  the  situation.  He  married  Mary 
Wadel,  January  12,  1688.  In  1686,  in  company  with  several  others,  he  had 
bought  a  tract  of  land  in  Chelmsford,  on  which  Lowell,  Massachusetts,  now 
stands.  Owing  to  Indian  raids,  however,  he  soon  returned  to  Dorchester,  later 
making  his  home  at  Milton,  Massachusetts,  with  his  son  George,  born  in  1688. 
This  son  married  Mary  Turel  in  1706,  and  later  settled  in  Stoughton,  Massa- 
chusetts. Dr.  Eugene  Solomon  Talbot  is  the  son  of  George  Talbot's  great- 
-great-grandson  Solomon,  who  on  November  26,  1843,  married  Emily  E. 
Hawes.  She  was  a  descendant  in  the  direct  line  from  Richard  Hawes,  who 
settled  in  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  in  1635. 

Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot  was  the  second  of  a  family  of  ten,  five  sons  and 
five  daughters.  He  received  a  public  school  education,  followed  by  academic 
training  at  Stoughtonham  Institute,  until  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  He  worked 
upon  the  farm,  but  becoming  interested  in  mechanics  entered  the  local  trowel 
and  knife  works  during  the  summer,  and  later  apprenticed  himself  at  the 
South  Boston  Locomotive  Works,  where  he  was  trained  to  work  upon  marine 
engines  during  the  latter  part  of  the  Civil  war.  He  became  a  master  mechanic 
at  nineteen,  and  the  following  winter  accepted  an  offer  to  take  charge  of  the 
machinery  of  a  Cuban  sugar  plantation.  Arriving  at  Philadelphia,  however, 
he  secured  the  position  of  foreman  at  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Repair  Shops, 
and  after  working  about  six  months  had  accumulated  $100,  which  he  carried 
in  his  pocket.  On  returning  to  his  boarding  house  after  an  evening's  walk  the 
money  was  missing.  He  gave  up  the  Cuban  plan,  and,  working  long  enough  to 
earn  money  to  pay  his  way,  arrived  in  Chicago  in  the  spring  of  1867.  After 
two  years'  work  at  his  trade  he  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  entered  the  Penn- 
sylvania College  of  Dental  Surgery,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1872,  returning 
to  Chicago  to  commence  the  practice  of  his  profession.  .  In  1878  he  entered 
Rush  Medical  College,  whence  he  graduated  in  1880.  With  the  belief  that 
dentistry  should  occupy  the  plane  it  deserved  as  a  specialty  of  medicine,  he,  in 
1881.  with  other  dental  scientists,  secured  three  radical  changes  in  the  medical 

6 


82  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

relations  of  dental  surgery:  Chairs  on  Dental  and  Oral  Surgery  were  estab- 
lished in  the  five  medical  colleges  of  Chicago.  The  Section  of  Stomatology 
was  created  in  the  American  Medical  Association.  The  Chicago  Dental 
Infirmary  was  established,  whereby  the  students  were  enabled  to  take  a  regular 
medical  course  in  instruction,  to  have  special  dental  instruction  in  the  Dental 
Infirmary,  and  to  be  graduated  in  Medicine.  This  last,  however,  was  not  a 
permanent  success.  In  the  spring  of  1881  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Dental 
Surgery  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  and  in  the  Woman's  Medical  Col- 
lege, and  Lecturer  on  Dental  Pathology  and  Surgery  in  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege. From  professional  exigencies  he  was  unable  to  accept  the  Chicago  Med- 
ical College  professorship.  He  accepted  the  chair  in  Rush  and  the  Woman's 
Medical  College.  He  has  always  urged  a  medical  education  for  dental  students, 
and  has  left  no  stone  unturned  in  the  advocacy  of  this,  believing  that  no  scien- 
tific progress  could  be  made  without  a  broad  knowledge  thus  obtained.  The 
necessity  has  in  consequence  become  more  and  more  recognized. 

Dr.  Talbot  was  a  delegate  to  the  Seventh  International  Medical  Congress, 
which  met  in  1881  in  London,  and  to  the  Ninth  International  Medical  Congress, 
which  met  in  Washington  in  1887.  He  was  Honorary  President  of  the  Tenth 
International  Medical  Congress,  which  met  in  Berlin  in  1890,  and  Honorary 
President  of  the  Twelfth  International  Medical  Congress,  Moscow,  1897. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Thirteenth  International  Medical  Congress,  held 
in  Paris,  1900;  Secretary  of  the  Section  on  Dental  and  Buccal  Surgery,  at  the 
Pan-American  Medical  Congress,  Havana,  February  4,  1901.  Through  his 
scientific  researches  he  was  elected  Fellow  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Mecli  • 
cine  in  1892  (and  has  been  a  director  of  that  body  for  seven  years),  and  a 
member  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences.  His  researches  have  been 
recognized  abroad  by  his  election  as  an  honorary  member  of  the  Odonto- 
logischen  Gesellschaft,  Berlin,  Germany,  the  Association  Generale  des  Den- 
tistes  de  France,  Paris,  France,  and  Sociedad  Odontological  Espanola,  Mad- 
rid, Spain,  as  well  as  many  local  and  State  societies  in  this  country,  and  cor- 
responding member  of  the  Dansk-Tandlaegerforening,  being  elected  in  1901. 
He  has  been  Secretary  of  the  Section  on  Stomatology  of  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association  (of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders)  for  the  past  sixteen 
years.  He  was  secretary  of  the  Dental  and  Oral  Section  of  the  Pan-American 
Medical  Congress,  which  met  in  Washington  in  1893,  and  member  of  the 
World's  Columbian  Dental  Congress,  which  met  in  Chicago  in  1893. 

Dr.  Talbot  has  made  the  following  literary  contributions  to  science: 
"The  Irregularities -of  the  Teeth,"  first  edition,  1888.  "The  Irregularities  of 
the  Teeth,"  second  edition,  1890.  "Chart  of  Typical  Forms  of  Irregularities 
of  the  Teeth,"  1891.  "The  Etiology  of  Osseous  Deformities  of  the  Head, 
Face,  Jaws  and  Teeth,"  third  edition,  1894.  "Degeneracy:  Its  Causes,  Signs 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  83 

and  Results"  (London),  1898.  Interstitial  Gingivitis  or  So-called  Pyorrhoea 
Alveolaris,"  1899.  "Irregularities  of  the  Teeth,"  fourth  edition,  1901. 
Papers:  "Education,  Dental  Colleges,"  Dental  Cosmos,  1876;  "Mercury, 
Chemical  and  Physiological  Action  of  Fillings  on  the  System,"  Dental  Cosmos, 
1879.  "Preparation  of  Nerve-canals  for  Treatment  and  Fillings,"  Dental 
Cosmos,  October,  1880.  "Gold  Crowns,"  Dental  Cosmos,  September,  1880. 
"Screws  for  Artificial  Crowns,"  Dental  Cosmos,  March,  1881.  "Treatment 
and  Filling  of  Approximal  Cavities,"  Dental  Cosmos,  December,  1881.  "The 
Regulation  of  Teeth  by  Direct  Pressure,"  Dental  Cosmos,  November,  1881. 
"Dental  Regulating  Apparatus,"  Dental  Cosmos,  May,  1885.  "Spreading 
the  Dental  Arch,"  Dental  Cosmos,  January,  1886.  "Regulating  Individual 
Teeth,"  Dental  Cosmos,  May,  1886.  "Pyorrhoea  Alveolaris,"  first  paper, 
Dental  Cosmos,  November,  1886.  "The  Etiology  of  Irregularities  of  the 
Teeth,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  May,  1888.  "Arrest  of 
Development  of  the  Maxillary  Bone,  due  to  Race  Crossing,  Climate  and 
Soil,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  June,  1888.  "Development  of 
the  Inferior  Maxilla  by  Exercise,  and  Asymmetry  of  the  Lateral  Halves  of  the 
Maxillary  Bones,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1888. 
"Asymmetry  of  the  Maxillary  Bones,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  1888.  "The  Alveolar  Process,"  Journal  American  Med- 
ical Association,  1888.  "The  Origin  and  Development  of  the  V 
and  Saddle  Arches  and  Kindred  Irregularities  of  the  Teeth,"  Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  1889.  The  Above  Concluded,  Journal  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  1889.  "Classification  of  Typical  Irregularities  of 
the  Maxillae  and  Teeth,"  Dental  Cosmos,  August,  1889.  "Statistics  of 
Constitutional  and  Development  Irregularities  of  the  Jaws  and  Teeth  of 
Normal,  Idiotic,  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Blind  and  Insane  Persons,"  Dental  Cosmos, 
July,  1889.  "Fallacies  of  Some  of  the  Old  Theories  of  Irregularities  of 
Teeth,  with  some  remarks  on  Diagnosis  and  Treatment,"  Dental  Cosmos, 
March,  1890.  "The  Teeth  apd  Jaws  of  a  Party  of  Cave  and  Cliff-Dwellers," 
Dental  Cosmos,  May,  1890.  "The  Differentiation  of  Anterior  Protrusions  of 
the  Upper  Maxilla  and  Teeth,"  International  Medical  Congress,  Berlin, 
Dental  Cosmos,  August,  1890.  "Mouth-Breathing  Not  the  Cause  of  Con- 
tracted Jaws  and  High  Vaults,"  1891.  "Management  of  Dental  Societies," 
Dental  Cosmos,  January,  1891.  "Studies  of  Criminals,"  Alienist  and  Neurol- 
ogist, October,  1891.  "Scientific  Investigation  of  the  Cranium  and  Jaws," 
Dental  Cosmos,  May,  1891.  "Evidence  of  Somatic  Origin  of  Inebriety," 
Journal  of  Inebriety,  July,  1891.  "A  study  of  the  Degeneracy  of  the  Jaws 
of  the  Human  Race,"  Dental  Cosmos,  1892.  "Empyema  of  the  Antrum," 
Jowrnal  American  Medical  Association,  1893.  "The  Vault  in  Its  Relation  to 
the  Jaws  and  Nose,"  Dental  Practitioner  and  Advertiser,  October,  1894. 


84  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

"Stigmata  of  Degeneracy  in  the  Aristocracy  and  Regicides,"  Journal  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  November,  1894.  "The  Degenerate  Ear,"  Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  January,  1895.  "Pyorrhoea  Alveolaris,"  sec- 
ond paper,  International  Dental  Journal,  Dental  Cosmos,  1896.  "Dental  and 
Facial  Evidences  of  Constitutional  Defect,"  International  Dental  Journal, 
May,  1896.  "H.  H.  Holmes/'  Journal  American  Medical  Association, 
August,  1896.  "Pyorrhoea  Alveolaris,  third  paper,  Journal  American  Medi- 
cal Association,  1896.  "Degeneracy  of  the  Teeth  and  Jaws,"  Journal  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  1896.  "Oral  Hygiene,"  Twelfth  International  Medi- 
cal Congress,  Moscow,  1897.  "Auto-Intoxication  in  Its  Medical  and  Surgical 
Relations  to  the  Jaws  and  Teeth,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association, 
April  17,  1897.  "Pyorrhoea  Alveolaris,  in  Mercurial  and  Lead  Poisoning 
and  Scurvy,"  fourth  paper,  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1898. 
"Degeneracy  in  Its  Relations  to  Deformities  of  the  Jaws  and  Irregularities  of 
the  Teeth,"  Chicago  Dental  Review,  1898.  "A  Study  of  the  Stigmata  of 
Degeneracy  Among  the  American  Criminal  Youth,"  Journal  American  Medi- 
cal Association,  1898.  "Irregularities  of  the  Dental  Arch,"  1898.  "A  Study 
of  the  Deformities  of  the  Jaws  Among  the  Degenerate  Classes  of  Europe," 
International  Dental  Journal,  January,  1898.  "Inheritance  of  Circumcision 
Effects,"  Medicine,  June,  1898.  "What  Became  of  the  Dauphin  Louis  XVII? 
A  Study  in  Dental  Jurisprudence,"  Medicine,  June,  1899.  "Interstitial 
Gingivitis  Due  to  Auto-Intoxication,"  International  Dental  Journal,  Feb- 
ruary, 1900.  "Traitement  de  la  Pyorrhie  Alveolo-dentaire,"  Thirteenth  Inter- 
national Medical  Congress,  Paris,  1900.  "The  Intervention  of  Therapeusis 
in  Anomalies  of  Position  and  Direction  of  the  Teeth,"  Thirteenth  Interna- 
tional Medical  Congress,  Paris,  1900.  "Limitations  in  Dental  Educa- 
tion," Section  in  Stomatology,  American  Medical  Association,  June,  1900. 
"Interstitial  Gingivitis  from  Indigestion  Auto-Intoxication,"  Section  on 
Stomatology,  American  Medical  Association,  June  5,  1900.  "Interstitial 
Gingivitis  as  a  Prominent  Obvious  Early  Symptom  of  Auto-Intoxication  and 
Drug  Poisoning,"  Chicago  Medical  Society,  February  13,  1901.  "Peridental 
Abscess,"  New  York  State  Dental  Society,  May,  1901.  "Degeneracy  of  the 
Dental  Pulp,"  Section  on  Stomatology,  American  Medical  Association,  June, 

1901.  "Degeneracy  and  Political  Assassination,"  Medicine,  December,  1901. 
"The   Higher   Plane  of  Dentistry,"  Revue    de    Stomatologie,   Paris,    1902. 
"Juvenile    Female    Delinquents,"  The    Alienist    and    Neurologist,  1901 -'02. 
"Stigmata  of  Degeneracy,"  The  Medical  Examiner  and  Practitioner,  March, 

1902.  "Deformities  of  the  Bones  of  the  Nose  and  Face,"  The  Laryngoscope, 
1902.      "Evolution   of  the   Pulp,"   Journal  American  Medical  Association, 
1902.     "Why  Dentists  do  not  Read,"  International  Dental  Journal,   1903. 
"How  far  do  Stomatologie  Indications  warrant  Constitutional  Treatment?" 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  85 

International  Dental  Journal,  1903.  "Syphilitic  Interstitial  Gingivitis,"  In- 
ternational Dental  Journal,  1903.  "Gum  Massage,"  International  Dental 
Journal,  1903.  "The  Vaso-Motor  System  of  the  Pulp,"  Journal  American 
Medical  Association,  1903.  "Recognition  of  the  D.  D.  S.  degree  by  the 
American  Medical  Association,"  Dental  Journals,  1903.  "What  the  Physi- 
cian or  Surgeon  should  know  of  Dentistry,"  Illinois  Medical  Bulletin,  1903. 
"Pathogeny  of  Osteomalacia  or  Senile  Atrophy,"  The  Dental  Digest,  Septem- 
ber, 1903.  "Endarteritis  Obliterans  and  Hypertrophy  of  the  Arterial  Coats," 
The  Dental  Digest,  October,  1903.  "Buccal  Expressions  of  Constitutional 
States,"  Medicine,  October,  1903.  "Constitutional  Causes  of  Tooth  Decay," 
The  Dental  Digest,  December,  1903.  "Pathology  of  Root  Absorption  and 
Alveolar  Process,"  The  Dental  Digest,  March,  1904.  "The  Relations  of  the 
Nose  and  Genitalia,"  Medicine,  April,  1904. 

Of  these  contributions  to  science,  the  works  on  Degeneracy,  Interstitial 
Gingivitis  and  Irregularities  of  the  Teeth  have  attracted  world-wide  atten- 
tion. All  three  works  originated  in  researches  upon  the  causes  of  irregu- 
larities of  the  jaws  and  teeth.  These  have  received  extended  commendation 
from  leading  European,  Continental,  British  and  American  dental,  medical 
and  scientific  journals.  The  value  to  science  of  Dr.  Talbot's  contributions 
has  been  widely  recognized  by  colleges,  universities  and  institutions  of  scienti- 
fic research  which  placed  his  works  in  their  libraries.  The  colleges  have 
evinced  a  further  recognition  by  conferring  M.  S.  and  LL.  D.  degrees. 

Dr.  Talbot  was  married  by  Rev.  Robert  Collyer  and  Prof.  David  Swing 
'in  1876,  to  Miss  Flora  Estey,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Willis  Estey,  formerly  of 
Dover,  New  Hampshire,  and  has  three  children,  two  daughters  and  one  son. 
He  is  a  Unitarian  in  faith,  and  has  been  a  member  of  Unity  (Robert  Coll- 
yer's)  Church  for  the  past  thirty-five  years,  and  is  now  one  of  its  trustees. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  the  father  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
says  of  Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot :  "Dr.  Talbot  is  not  only  an  eminent  scientific 
practitioner  and  teacher  of  stomatology,  but  is  likewise  an  excellent  example 
of  the  modest,  unassuming,  thorough  scholar  (industrious,  indefatigable  in 
prosecuting  investigation  of  an  original  character  within  his  professional 
field),  as  evidenced  by  his  numerous  and  valuable  contributions.  Dr.  Talbot's 
book  on  Degeneracy  indicates  great  industry  on  the  part  of  the  author  and 
contains  a  great  variety  of  facts  worthy  of  careful  study.  This  is  likewise 
shown  in  his  works  on  Interstitial  Gingivitis  and  in  allied  departments  of 
dental  science.  These  works  are  monuments  of  extended  research,  acuteness 
of  perception  and  original  systematic  investigation,  that  entitle  him  to  a 
place  on  the  list  of  those  who  make  important  additions  to  the  sum  or  aggre- 
gate of  human  knowledge.  The  work  on  Interstitial  Gingivitis  is  admirably 


86  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

illustrated  i>y  numerous  photographs  and  micro-photographs  and  is  a  credit 
to  its  publishers." 

Dr.  John  Ridlon,  Secretary  of  the  Northwestern  University  Woman's 
Medical  School,  pays  Dr.  Talbot  the  following  tribute :  "For  some  reason, 
I  know  not  what,  one  does  not  expect  from  a  dentist  anything  beyond  skill  in 
the  mechanical  work  of  his  profession.  In  accrediting  Dr.  E.  S.  Talbot  with 
more  than  this  skill  one  is  mentioning  the  best  of  the  qualities  that  entitle  him 
to  appear  in  this  Group  of  Eminent  Medical  Men.  Dr.  Talbot  was  one  of 
the  first  dentists  to  teach  his  specialty  in  a  regular  medical  school  in  Chicago 
as  a  required  part  of  a  medical  education.  As  a  teacher  he  has  been  eminently 
successful.  It  is,  however,  because  of  his  original  work  in  dental  pat-hology 
that  has  placed  him  high  in  his  profession  and  because  of  his  investigations 
and  writings  on  degeneracy  that  his  name  has  become  familiar  to  scientists 
the  world  over." 

Dr.  Henry  M.  Lyman,  an  eminent  Chicago  neurologist,  says  of  Dr. 
Talbot :  "Dr.  Talbot  is  a  very  honest,  straightforward  man,  a  close  student, 
a  keen  observer  and  the  author  of  'Degeneracy'  and  other  valuable  works." 

Dr.  H.  M.  Bannister,  a  widely  noted  neurologist  of  Chicago,  says: 
"Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot,  who  is  best  known  to  his  fellow  citizens  as  an  able 
dentist  and  successful  business  man,  is  better  known  to  the  scientific  world  as 
one  of  the  first  American  authorities  on  anthropology,  especially  in  its  patho- 
logical aspects.  His  first  extensive  work  was  a  treatise  on  the  irregularities  of 
the  jaws  and  teeth,  published  in  1888.  This  work  treated  the  subject  from  the 
standpoint  of  a  scientific  dentist,  and  became  a  leading  text-book  and  work 
•on  reference  for  dental  students  and  practitioners.  It  gave  the  author  a  high 
professional  standing,  but  the  study  was  so  suggestive  that  he  amplified  it  in 
1894  into  the  much  larger  work  on  the  'Etiology  of  Osseous  Deformities  of- 
the  Head,  Face,  Jaws  and  Teeth,'  a  work  covering  the  whole  range  of  the 
congenital  defects  of  the  most  important  region  of  the  body,  as  regards  the 
evidences  of  degeneracy  and  degenerative  stigmata.  This  work  gave  its 
author  at  once  a  high  standing  among  scientific  writers,  and  has  received  the 
highest  commendatory  notices  in  scientific  journals  at  home  and  abroad.  His 
next  work  of  importance  was  'Degeneracy,  Its  Signs,  Causes  and  Results,' 
published  in  the  Contemporary  Scientific  Series,  which  is  a  semi-popular  but 
scientific  treatment  of  the  subject  of  human  defects  that  had  been  already 
discussed  in  its  scientific  aspects  as  regards  cranial  and  facial  defects  in  his 
former  work.  This  volume  maintains  his  reputation  as  a  thinker  and  author, 
though  in  its  popular  style  and  special  scope  it  is  less  a  work  of  scientific  refer- 
ence than  is  the  earlier  volume. 

"Dr.  Talbot  is  also  the  author  of  numerous  papers  in  scientific  and  medi- 
cal journals  and  his  researches  on  criminal  anthropology  comprise  the  most 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  87 

thorough  work  that  has  been  done  in  this  line  in  this  country.  The  studies  on 
juvenile  criminals  of  the  eastern  and  western  reformatories  are  to  be  espe- 
cially mentioned  in  this  connection.  With  all  his  scientific  work  he  has  not 
neglected  his  own  specialty,  as  his  book  on  Interstitial  Gingivitis  or  so-called 
Pyorrhoea  Alveolaris  shows,  a  work  that  easily  takes  the  lead  among  the 
treatises  on  that  disorder  in  scientific  thorough  study  of  the  subject.  To 
enumerate  his  separate  articles  would  fill  more  space  than  can  here  be  given. 
He  is  an  honorary  member  of  numerous  learned  and  professional  bodies  here 
and  abroad,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  there  is  no  other  American  dentist  who 
has  a  higher  scientific  international  reputation.  To  his  neighbors  and  patients 
much  of  his  life  work  is  entirely  unknown  and  probably  many  of  the  purely 
practical  members  of  his  own  profession  have  little  idea  of  the  outside  work 
he  has  done  and  the  wide  reputation  he  has  thus  obtained." 

Dr.  James  G.  Kiernan,  a  leading  Chicago  neurologist,  says :  "There 
has  been  observable  a  law  in  biology  as  well  as  in  other  departments  of  science 
that  certain  broad  principles  culminate  in  evolution  at  the  same  time.  This 
law  has  been  peculiarly  well  illustrated  in  the  contributions  to  the  biologic 
department  of  medicine  by  Dr.  E.  S.  Talbot.  During  the  last  three  decades 
of  .the  Nineteenth  century  the  evolutionary  phase  of  medicine  has  been  pecu- 
liarly emphasized  by  the  arrested  phase  illustrated  in  degeneracy.  The  arrested 
and  progressive  phases  of  evolution  on  which  the  great  biologist  John  Hunter 
laid  such  stress  have  been  so  extended  by  the  researches  of  Dr.  Eugene  S.  Tal- 
bot that  the  great  physiologist  would  have  rejoiced  that  the  laws  he  laid  down 
in  the  eighteenth  century  should  a  century  later  have  been  so  strongly  empha- 
sized in  'Degeneracy,  Its  Causes,  Signs  and  Results,'  by  Dr.  Eugene  S. 
Talbot." 

Dr.  Nicholas  Senn,  a  leading  American  Surgical  Pathologist,  writes  of 
Dr.  Talbot  as  follows :  "Dr.  Talbot  has  won  a  well-merited  eminence  by  his 
original  researches.  He  is  a  widely  known  author  and  a  man  of  whom 
Chicago  may  well  be  proud." 

Dr.  W.  A.  Evans,  Professor  of  Pathology,  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  Pathologist,  Columbus  Medical  Laboratory,  says :  "In  searching 
for  qualities  responsible  for  the  rise  of  Dr.  Talbot,  one  prominently  encoun- 
ters two  of  paramount  importance.  The  first  of  these  is  energy,  the  second 
persistence.  He  is  one  of  the  most  energetic  men  whom  I  know,  energetic 
both  mentally  and  physically,  but  especially  mentally.  In  my  opinion,  per- 
haps, a  greater  element  in  his  success  has  been  his  persistence — the  fact  that 
when  he  undertakes  a  thing  he  carries  it  out  to  all  the  best  of  his  ability, 
despite  opposition.  He  never  turns  back.  His  mind  is  of  the  actively  advanc- 
ing turn  which  passes  quickly  from  the  solution  of  one  problem  to  other  prob- 
lems arising  from  such  solution." 


88  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Dr.  W.  F.  Waugh  says  of  Dr.  Talbot :  "Dr.  Talbot,  like  the  late  Dr. 
Garretson,  is  one  of  those  men  who  do  not  believe  that  the  sum  total  of  the 
activeness  of  a  dentist  is  comprised  in  poking  bits  of  gold  into  hollow  teeth. 
His  ripe  scholarship,  his  turn  for  original  investigation,  and  the  grasp  of  a 
strongly  logical  intellect,  have  been  shown  in  the  literary  work  which  has 
honored  the  dental  profession  of  Chicago.  As  a  conversationalist  Dr.  Talbot 
is  one  of  the  most  charming  of  men.  There  is  something  peculiar  to  the 
dental  profession,  which  seems  to  develop  inventive  genius ;  probably  no  occu- 
pation is  credited  with  as  many  useful  inventions  as  the  dental,  and  this 
tendency  to  originality  of  thought  is  perhaps  one  of  the  things  which  makes 
the  best  of  that  profession  such  pleasant  companions." 

Dr.  Ludwig  Hektoen,  Professor  of  Pathology  in  Rush  Medical  College, 
says :  "The  scientific  work  of  Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot  shows  that  he  is 
endowed  with  a  pronounced  faculty  for  original  research  coupled  with  per- 
sistent energy  along  certain  lines  of  thought.  He  has  made  numerous  contri- 
butions to  medical  and  dental  literature,  throwing  light  upon  disputed  points. 
His  work  upon  the  absorption  of  bone  of  the  alveolar  process  in  diseases  of 
the  peridental  membrane  is  very  complete  and  interesting.  He  has  classified 
in  a  comprehensive  manner  the  diseases  of  the  gums  and  jaws  due  to  local  and 
systemic  causes.  Perhaps  he  is  best  known  generally  by  his  works  on 
Irregularities  of  the  Teeth ;  Chart  of  Typical  Deformities  of  the  Jaws ;  Degen- 
eracy, Its  Causes,  Signs  and  Results." 

Dr.  J.  H.  Salisbury,  Assistant  Professor  of  Medicine  and  Chemistry, 
Rush  Medical  College,  in  affiliation  with  the  University  of  Chicago,  writes 
of  Dr.  Talbot :  "Dr.  Talbot  has  been  from  the  beginning  of  his  career  an 
enthusiastic  scientific  worker.  His  investigations  have  been  remarkable  for 
thoroughness  and  for  the  fact  that  they  have  not  been  confined  to  the  dental 
field.  His  work  on  Interstitial  Gingivitis  is  an  example  of  painstaking, 
scientific  investigation  of  a  medical  subject  that  may  well  be  emulated  by 
other  workers  in  the  same  field,  and  is  a  credit  to  American  Dentistry." 

Dr.  Walter  S.  Haines,  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Rush  Medical  College, 
says  of  Dr.  Talbot :  "Dr.  Talbot's  eminent  position  as  a  scientific  practitioner 
of  dentistry,  as  an  original  investigator  and  as  a  writer,  is  well  known.  Out- 
side of  these  fields,  however,  he  has  done  extremely  valuable  work,  especially 
in  connection  with  the  advancement  of  dental  education.  For  more  than 
twenty  years  he  has  earnestly  advocated,  both  by  precept  and  example,  raising 
the  standard  of  the  education  of  dentists,  and  the  great  advance  in  this  line 
that  has  been  made  in  this  country  in  the  past  two  decades  is  due  in  no  small 
degree  to  his  persistent  and  well-directed  efforts.  This  work,  in  my  opinion, 
has  been,  if  not  quite,  almost  his  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  scientific 
world." 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
UREANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  89 

HENRY   PARKER   NEWMAN,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

,,-No  other  profession  has  accomplished,  during  the  last  half  century,  the 
progress  and  development  that  have  been  made  by  the  medical.  This  has  not 
been  the  work  of  those  who  become  learned  by  knowledge  obtained  from 
books,  or  the  experiences  of  a  past  generation,  but  by  those  who  rise  to  new 
occasions,  who  think  in  new  lines  and  who  do  new  things.  The  man  of 
original  thought  and  action,  whose  tex^-jook  forms  but  the  basis  of  future 
work,  moves  forward  and  takes  his  profession  with  him.  He  becomes  a 
leader,  and  those  that  follow  reap  lasting  benefit  from  his  work.  Such  a  man 
is  Henry  Parker  Newman,  the  distinguished  physician,  surgeon  and  author 
of  Chicago. 

New  England  claims  him  by  birth  and  education,  as  he  was  born  in 
Washington,-  New  Hampshire,  December  2,  1853,  son  of  James  and  Abby 
(Everett)  Newman,  and  grandson  of  James  Madison  Newman.  After  a  pre- 
liminary training  in  the  New  London  (N.  H.)  Literary  and  Scientific  Insti- 
tute, he  began,  in  1874,  to  read  medicine  under  Dr.  George  Cook,  of  Concord. 
He  attended  his  first  lectures  at  Dartmouth  College,  which  afterward  honored 
him  with  the  degree  of  A.  M.  He  entered  the  Detroit  College  of  Medicine, 
graduating  in  March,  1878.  His  studious  habits  and  his  logical  reasoning 
attracted  the  notice  of  the  Faculty,  and  he  won  much  praise  for  his  thorough 
painstaking  work.  During  his  senior  year  he  was  House  Physician  at  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,  Detroit.  After  receiving  his  degree  in  medicine  he  spent 
two  years'  study  in  Germany,  in  the  Universities  of  Strasburg,  Leipsic  and 
Bonn.  Upon  his  return  to  America,  he  located  for  the  general  practice  of  his 
profession  in  Chicago. 

Thorough  preparation,  careful  research  and  an  alert  mind  equipped  him 
well  for  the  successful  path  he  has  trod,  and  his  genial  manner  has  won 
friends  wherever  he  goes.  His  rise  in  his  profession  has  been  rapid,  as  it  is 
deserved.  For  some  time  he  was  President  of  the  Post  Graduate  Medical 
School.  At  the  present  time  he  is  a  director  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  of  which  institution  he  has  been  an  active  promoter  since  its  organ- 
ization in  1 88 1,  and  where  he  holds  the  Chair  of  Gynecology  and  Clinical 
Gynecology;  and  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Women  in  the  Chicago  Policlinic. 
He  is  also  connected  with  the  staffs  of  several  hospitals,  among  them  being: 
Surgeon  in  the  Department  of  Diseases  of  Women  in  the  Policlinic  and 
West  Side  Hospitals;  President  and  Surgeon-in-Chief  of  the  Marion  Sims 
Hospital ;  and  Consulting  Gynecologist  at  the'  Maternity  and  St.  Anthony's 
Hospitals  and  the  Alma  (Michigan)  Sanitarium.  He  has  been  for  some 
years  Medical  Referee  for  the  Department  of  the  Northwest  and  Chief  Medi- 
cal Examiner  in  this  city  for  the  Berkshire  Life  Insurance  Company. 


90  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Among  the  various  medical  fraternities  Dr.  Newman  stands  very  high, 
his  professional  brethren  admiring  not  only  his  ability  in  his  profession,  but 
also  his  winning  personality  and  his  marvelous  executive  ability.  He  belongs 
to  the  Chicago  Medical  Society ;  Chicago  Pathological  Society ;  Chicago 
Gynecological  Society;  Illinois  State  Medical  Society;  American  Medical 
Association,  of  which  he  is  treasurer;  American  Academy  of  Medicine;  Pan- 
American  Congress ;  and  International  Medical  Congress ;  Periodical  Con- 
gress of  Obstetricians  and  Gynecologists,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the 
founders. 

Dr.  Newman  has  contributed  largely  to  the  medical  literature  of  the  day, 
and  articles  from  his  pen  are  always  welcomed  by  publishers,  who  feel  sure  of 
pleasing  their  patrons  by  papers  so  clearly  and  concisely  written,  and  so  filled 
with  items  of  great  interest  to  the  profession.  His  original  work  includes 
abdominal  and  pelvic,  major  and  plastic,  gynecological  and  obstetrical  sur- 
gery, and  he  has  devised  many  new  operations  and  instruments. 


ROBERT  LAUGHLIN  REA,  M.  D. 

The  career  of  the  late  Dr.  Rea  affords  a  striking  proof  of  the  possible 
triumph  of  determination  over  drawbacks,  of  perseverance  over  poverty,  and 
of  talent  over  trials.  While  in  'no  sense  a  pioneer  in  his  profession,  he  was 
himself  the  axeman  who  blazed  out  the  path  from  the  plowhandle  to  the  pro- 
fessor's chair,  from  obscurity  to  fame.  Virginia,  to  which  commonwealth 
the  country  at  large  owes  many  of  its  most  eminent  sons,  was  the  State  of  his 
birth,  he  having  been  born  in  Rockbridge  county,  in  the  "Old  Dominion,"  on 
July  i,  1827.  Until  he  had  reached  the  age  of  fifteen  years  his  only  educa- 
tional advantages  were  those  afforded  by  the  poorly  taught,  meagerly  equip- 
ped country  schools  of  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago.  He  had  scarcely 
passed  his  seventeenth  birthday  when  he  resolved  to  follow  the  course  of  emi- 
gration and  woo  fortune  in  the  West.  Fayette  county,  Indiana,  was  his  first 
objective  point,  and  there  he  made  his  home  with  Absalom  Manlove  and  his 
wife,  to  whom  he  was  related  by  ties  of  consanguinity,  Mrs.  Manlove  (nee 
Mary  Rea),  being  his  cousin.  They  were  endowed  with  innate  nobility  of 
character,  and  their  assistance  and  encouragement  proved  of  inestimable 
worth  to  their  young  kinsman.  In  later  years  he  led  their  daughter,  Permelia 
Mellie,  to  the  altar,  and  throughout  his  long  and  useful  life,  and  when  honors 
were  heaped  high  upon  his  head,  he  never  failed  to  recognize  the  prominent 
part  in  his  career  which  was  played  by  her  unselfish  devotion,  her  loving 
sympathy,  her  wise  counsels  and  her  practical  help. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVtKSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  91 

The  young  man's  life  in  that  new  country  was  one  of  hard  work,  but 
felling  trees  in  the  ''pathless  woods"  and  guiding  the  plow  through  virgin  soil 
developed  those  magnificent  physical  powers  for  which  he  was  afterward  re- 
nowned, and  built  up  that  strong  constitution  which  enabled  him  to  work  so 
long  and  so  assiduously  for  his  fellow  men.  Through  the  influence  of  his 
cousins  he  secured  an  appointment  as  teacher  of  a  country  school,  a  position 
for  which  his  natural  disposition  well  fitted  him  and  which  he  filled  for  five 
years.  While  thus  engaged  he  began  the  study  of  that  profession  of  which  he 
was  destined  to  become  so  conspicuous  an  ornament,  his  preceptor  being  Dr. 
W.  P.  Kitchen,  of  Brownsville,  Indiana.  In  1851  he  began  practice,  at  Ox- 
ford, Ohio,  taking  up  his  residence  there  on  September  ijth  of  that  year. 
Feeling  the  need  of  a  broader  professional  training,  he  entered  the  Medical 
College  of  Ohio,  at  Cincinnati,  graduating  with  distinction  from  that  institu- 
tion in  1855.  No  sooner  had  he  received  his  degree  than  he  was  made  Dem- 
onstrator of  Anatomy  in  his  Alma  Mater  and  about  the  same  time  appointed 
resident  physician  at  the  Commercial  Hospital  of  Cincinnati.  He  was  young 
to  have  been  chosen  to  discharge  the  serious  duties  attaching  to  these  respon- 
sible posts,  yet  he  had  even  then  manifested  a  mental  vigor  and  a  capacity  for 
hard  and  skillful  work  which  abundantly  justified  his  selection.  His  connec- 
tion with  the  hospital  terminated  at  the  end  of  one  year,  although  he  remained 
a  member  of  the  college  Faculty  during  three  terms.  He  resumed  his  practice 
at  Oxford,  and  while  living  there  he  delivered  courses  of  lecturers  on  Ana- 
tomy and  Physiology  before  the  young  ladies  of  the  Western  Female  Semi- 
nary, of  which  he  was  a  trustee. 

The  fame  of  the  young  physician,  however,  had  extended  beyond  the 
borders  of  his  adopted  State,  and  at  the  personal  solicitation  of  the  late  emi- 
nent Dr.  Brainard  he  consented  to  accept  the  proffered  Chair  of  Anatomy  at 
Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  a  position  which  he  filled  for  sixteen  years 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  lecture  hour.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  severed 
his  connection  with  Rush,  and  afterward  assumed  a  similar  relation  to  the 
Chicago  Medical  College,  and  in  1882  became  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in  whose  Faculty  he  was  Professor  of 
Surgery. 

In  this  connection  it  is  of  interest  to  quote  the  following  estimate  of  his 
rare  talent  as  an  instructor  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  I.  N.  Danforth,  himself  one  of 
Chicago's  most  honored  practitioners :  "Dr.  Rea  was  like  himself  and  like 
no  one  else.  He  was  a  strong  character,  altogether  self-dependent :  asking 
advice  of  nobody,  but  pushing  ahead  in  obedience  to  his  own  iron  will.  As  a 
teacher  of  anatomy  he  was  great,  perhaps  not  excelled  by  any  teacher  in 
America.  It  was  impossible  to  attend  his  lecturers  and  not  learn  anatomy. 
He  was  admired  rather  than  loved  by  students,  but  in  after  years — after  they 


92  A 'GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

had  measured  up  toward  his  colossal  proportions — they  began  to  love  him. 
No  more  powerful  mind  has  adorned  the  medical  profession  of  Chicago  than 
that  of  Professor  R.  L.  Rea." 

To  this  may  be  added  the  testimony  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis, 
Sr. :  "He  was  a  strong,  generous,  open-hearted  man ;  one  of  the  most  thorough 
and  successful  teachers  of  anatomy  that  we  had  in  the  country ;  a  man  of  good 
impulses,  and  more  successful,  both  as  a  physician  and  a  surgeon,  than  the 
average.  He  was  always  popular  with  the  students  and  had  the  faculty  of 
imparting  his  knowledge  to  others." 

In  the  same  vein  is  the  tribute  to  his  memory  and  his  worth  from  Dr. 
Archibald  Church,  of  Chicago,  who  was  devotedly  constant  in  his  attention  to 
the  late  physician  during  his  last  illness :  "Dr.  Rea,"  said  Dr.  Church,  "was 
perhaps  the  most  forceful  teacher  of  anatomy  that  ever  addressed  a  class.  His 
magnificent  physique,  the  ardor  of  his  enthusiasm,  the  very  peculiarity  of  his 
manner,  enforced  attention,  and  fixed  his  instructions  in  a  remarkable  way." 

For  four  years  he  filled  the  Chair  of  Surgery  in  the  young  college,  when 
he  resigned  his  professorship,  after  forty  years  of  consecutive  experience  as 
a  teacher.  Repeated  illustrations  of  the  veneration  and  love  in  which  he  was 
held  by  those  who  had  been  privileged  to  listen  to  his  instructions  were  af- 
forded on  a  trip  made  by  himself  and  Mrs.  Rea  to  the  Pacific  coast  not  many 
years  before  his  death.  At  every  halting  place  in  their  journey  the  Doctor 
and  his  wife  were  made  the  recipients  of  distinguished  attention  by  his  former 
pupils,  their  families  and  friends.  In  vain  did  they  seek  that  unostentatious 
quiet  which  was  dearest  to  his  heart.  Early  and  late  they  were  besieged  by 
visitors,  whose  eager  desire  to  do  them  honor  refused  to  be  checked. 

In  addition  to  his  engagements  at  the  seats  of  learning  named,  Dr.  Rea 
carried  on  a  large  and  lucrative  private  practice,  and  was  for  a  third  of  a  cen- 
tury surgeon-in-chief  to  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company.  As  a  practi- 
tioner he  was  firm  yet  tender,  resolute  although  sympathetic.  Never  hesitat- 
ing to  adopt  heroic  treatment  when  his  trained  eye  and  ripe  experience  indi- 
cated its  necessity,  he  ever  brought  to  the  bedside  of  a  sufferer  his  own  gentle 
nature  and  a  mind  filled  with  pure  and  tender  sentiments.  He  himself  well 
expressed  the  rule  of  his  professional  life  in  these  admonitory  words  to  a 
class  of  students:  "Be  kind  and  cheerful,"  he  said,  "with  your  patients; 
kind  without  offensively  patronizing  them,  and  cheerful  without  being  light. 
How  much  it  soothes  the  sharp  pangs  of  suffering  to  have  kind  and  gentle 
words  from  the  sympathizing  physician.  Every  twinge  seems  lighter  for 
these  cheap  sedatives.  Your  sympathy  need  not  unnerve  your  skill.  Kind 
and  considerate  sympathy  is  entirely  compatible  with  the  highest  skill 
and  the  coolest  and  most  determined  resolution.  You  can  stop  the  crim- 
son flow  with  one  hand  and  have  the  other  free  to  chafe  the  aching  brow." 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  93 

In  private  life  he  was,  as  Dr.  Church  has  said  of  him,  "generous  to  a  fault 
with  his  friends,  but  impatient  with  the  vices  and  follies  of  mankind.  Nu- 
merous instances  of  self-sacrifice  endeared  him  in  no  ordinary  degree  to .  a 
large  number  of  people,  while  his  outspoken  opposition  to  everything  he  con- 
sidered unjust  or  low-minded  made  him  a  terror  to  the  evil  doer."  Perhaps 
outside  of  these  traits — deep  devotion  to  humanity  and  earnest  desire  to  be 
helpful — his  most  pronounced  characteristics  were  moral  courage  and  an  un- 
swerving fidelity  to  truth.  To  the  young  men  under  his  care,  for  whose 
future  he  felt  himself  in  a  partial  degree  responsible,  he  was  wont  to  emphasize 
those  principles  which  constituted  the  rule  of  his  own  life.  "Cultivate,"  he 
said  to  them,  "thorough  frankness  and  honesty  in  all  your  intercourse  with 
your  patients  and  professional  friends.  What  so  becoming,  so  desirable,  to  • 
one  who  has  taken  such  a  place  in  the  affections  and  interests  of  those  com- 
mitted to  him  as  thorough  affection  and  candor?  To  have  your  patients  feel 
that  you  are  the  unselfish  friend  and  counselor,  the  candid  communicant  of 
all,  whether  good  or  ill  for  them,  will  give  them  the  kind  of  trust  in  you 
which  will  give  your  words  the  weight  they  merit.  How  much  is  there  to 
admire  and  desire  in  one  in  whom  thorough  integrity  and  candor  are  proverb- 
ial qualities!" 

One  noteworthy  instance  of  his  heroic  courage  and  generous  enthusiasm 
for  the  right  may  be  related  in  this  connection.  A  Southern  girl,  of  rare 
beauty  and  high  intellectual  ability,  came  to  the  Oxford  Seminary  as  a  pupil 
while  Dr.  Rea  was  connected  with  that  then  famous  institution.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  a  wealthy  planter  and  had  many  admirers,  finally  becoming  the 
fiancee  of  a  young  gentleman  of  Oxford.  Gradually  it  became  known  (the 
information  coming  from  her  Southern  home)  that  she  was  an  octoroon. 
Her  lover,  on  hearing  of  the  illegitimacy  of  her  birth  and  the  taint  of  negro 
blood  in  her  veins,  broke  the  engagement.  Her  father,  came  to  visit  her,  and 
Dr.  Rea  attended  him  while  stricken  with  cholera.  The  disease  proved  fatal 
and  the  dying  man  named  his  faithful  physician  as  executor  of  his  will.  At 
no  little  personal  risk  the  fearless  man  conveyed  the  body  to  its  final  resting 
place  beneath  a  Southern  sky,  and  brought  back  the  two  sisters  of  the  unhappy 
girl  whom  he  had  left  at  Oxford,  all  having  been  made  beneficiaries  under  a 
joint  legacy  of  $3,000.  To  obviate  in  a  measure  the  danger  of  his  charges 
being  wrested  from  his  protection  as  fugitive  slaves,  the  Doctor  set  out  with 
them  under  the  cover  of  darkness  for  a  point  where  the  party  might  safely 
take  a  train.  His  mode  of  conveyance  was  a  rowboat,  and  he  himself  was  the 
oarsman,  who  propelled  and  guided  the  little  craft  through  the  swirling  waters 
of  a  freshet  which  left  only  the  tree  tops  visible  and  whose  swollen  current  was 
carrying  down  all  descriptions  of  debris  from  submerged  homes.  Oberlin  was 
finallv  reached  in  safety,  and  there  the  two  girls  were  safelv  installed  in  a 

J  J  ~  o  .- 


94  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

reputable  home.  At  least  one  of  the  sisters  was  happily  married,  and  it  goes 
without  saying  that  the  executor's  trust  was  administered  with  scrupulous 
fidelity. 

During  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  Dr.  Rea,  at  considerable  personal  sacrifice, 
entered  the  Federal  service  as  army  surgeon.  The  celebrated  Robert  Collyer, 
of  New  York,  then  a  chaplain,  served  by  his  side,  and  often  acted  as  a  hospital 
nurse  under  the  surgeon's  directions.  In  one  of  the  clergyman's  works 
appears  the  following  glowing  yet  well  merited  tribute  to  the  skill  and  gentle- 
ness of  one  whose  kindly  heart  no  less  than  his  attainments  commanded  at 
once  respect  and  love.  "\Yhen  I  went  to  Fort  Donelson  to  nurse  our  wounded 
it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  the  personal  attendant  of  a  gentleman  whose  skill 
as  a  surgeon  was  only  equaled  by  the  wonderfully  deep  loving  tenderness  of 
his  heart,  as  it  thrilled  in  even-  tone  of  his  voice  and  even-  touch  of  his  hand. 
And  it  all  comes  to  me  now ;  how  he  would  come  to  the  men,  fearfully  mangled 
as  they  were,  and  how  the  nene  would  shrink  and  creep,  and  how  with  a  wise, 
hard,  steady  skill  he  would  cut  to  save  life,  forcing  back  tears  of  pity  only  that 
he  might  keep  his  eye  clear  for  the  delicate  duty,  speaking  low  words  of  cheer 
in  tones  heavy  with  tenderness ;  then,  when  all  was  over,  and  the  poor  fellows 
fainting  with  pain  knew  that  all  was  done  that  could  be  done,  and  done  only 
with  a  severity  whose  touch  was  love,  how  they  would  look  after  the  man  as 
he  went  away,  sending  unspoken  benedictions  to  attend  him." 

The  management  of  his  pecuniary  affairs  Dr.  Rea  entrusted  largely  to  the 
faithful  wife  who  was  for  so  long  his  helpmeet.  He  saw  a  competence  con- 
sumed in  the  holocaust  of  1871,  but  with  such  signal  ability,  rare  discernment 
and  sound  business  sense  did  his  wife  manage  the  slender  remnants  of  his 
fortune,  and  his  subsequent  accumulations,  that  before  his  death  he  saw  his 
wealth  multiplied  many  times.  In  the  drawing  of  his  last  testament  he  ex- 
hibited that  broad,  sympathetic  regard  for  humanity  which  was  the  guiding 
principle  of  his  entire  life.  After  providing  amply  for  his  widow  and  liberally 
for  sixteen  nieces  and  nephews  he  made  provision  for  the  endowment  of  the 
"Rea  Professorship  of  Anatomy''  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  North- 
western University;  bequeathed  $5,000  to  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, the  income  to  be  devoted  toward  defraying  the  support  of  four  students 
each  year,  and  named  as  residuary  legatees  the  Illinois  Xurses'  Association, 
the  Illinois  Training  School  for  Boys,  the  Home  for  Self  Supporting  Women 
and  the  Illinois  Humane  Society. 

It  was  on  July  10,  1899,  that  this  great  man  entered  into  his  final  rest. 
Great  as  an  educator,  physician  and  surgeon,  he  was  greater  as  a  man  in 
whose  heart  God  had  stamped  His  own  image.  His  death  resulted  from  a 
complication  of  cerebral  and  kidney  disorders.  He  was  buried  at  Crown  Hill 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  95 

cemetery,  Indianapolis,  and  in  accordance  with  his  repeatedly  expressed  wish 
the  interment  was  at  the  hour  of  sunset.  Such  men  are  like  forest  trees  in  their 
golden  autumn  tints — grandest  in  their  seeming  decay;  and  to  do  justice  to 
their  lives  the  pencil  should  be  dipped  in  the  golden  hues  of  a  western  sky.  The 
radiance  of  the  moral  sunset  lingers  after  the  earthly  course  is  run ;  and  a  man's 
influence  survives  death. 

Dr.  Senn  says  of  him :  "Dr.  Rea  was  a  strong  man  mentally  and  phys- 
ically, the  best  teacher  of  anatomy  we  have  ever  had.  He  was  highly  esteemed 
by  his  colleagues  and  an  honest  gentleman." 

Dr.  Christian  Fenger  said  of  Dr.  Rea :  "Dr.  Rea  was  the  greatest  anato- 
mist and  teacher  of  anatomy  Chicago  has  ever  had.  All  his  pupils  remember 
him  with  admiration." 

Dr.  Brower,  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends  and  associates,  adds :  "Dr. 
R.  L.  Rea  was 'a  man  of  extraordinary  physical  and  mental  strength,  yet  no 
woman  had  more  tenderness  than  he  had.  I  have  more  than  once  seen  tears  in 
his  eyes  during  consultations  over  his  patients.  No  man  was  ever  more  honest 
and  conscientious  in  his  discharge  of  his  professional  duties  than  he  was.  He 
was  a  great  teacher  of  anatomy,  the  greatest  Chicago  has  ever  produced,  and  he 
was  as  successful  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  His  great  big  manly  form 
with  its  gentleness  was  intensely  loved  by  his  large  clientele." 

Dr.  Quine  writes :  "Dr.  Robert  L.  Rea  was  a  strong  character  and  of 
very  impressive  personality.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest  teachers  of  anatomy, 
perhaps  the  greatest  teacher  of  anatomy,  Chicago  has  ever  had,  and  was 
almost  idolized  by  his  students.  As  a  man  of  affairs  he  was  not  surpassed  by 
any  member  of  the  medical  profession  of  Chicago  of  his  time.  He  had  an  ex- 
tensive professional  following  and  his  people  were  strongly  attached  to  him. 
I  have  always  believed  that  his  withdrawal  from  the  Faculty  of  Rush  Medical 
College  was  a  sad  mistake.  The  alumni  of  that  school  were  his  dearest 
friends." 

We  can  no  better  conclude  this  article  than  with  the  eulogy  from  the  pen 
of  Dr.  Frank  Billings,  who  wrote :  "It  was  my  good  fortune  to  meet  and 
gain  the  friendship  of  Professor  Robert  L.  Rea  the  first  day  of  my  medical  col- 
lege career.  It  was  the  first  year  of  his  work  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College. 
He  had  severed  his  connection  with  Rush  Medical  College  the  preceding  year, 
where  for  twenty  or  more  years  he  had  taught  anatomy  to  the  great  delight  and 
profit  of  the  students.  Students  he  always  termed  'my  boys,'  and  he  did 
indeed  assume  a  parental  power  over  all  of  us,  class  after  class  of  the  many, 
many  years  of  his  college  work.  Parental  he  was  in  his  kind,  generous,  encour- 
aging and  commanding  way ;  giving  a  smile  and  a  pat  of  approval  for  earnest 
good  work,  and  an  unrelenting,  firm  and  yet  kind  disapproval  of  poor  prepara- 
tion or  stupid  blundering  work.  The  boy  who  did  not  know  Gray  from  cover 
to  cover  when  the  term  was  done  was  a  black  sheep. 


96  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

"Professor  Rea  had  a  method  of  teaching  anatomy  which  was  peculiarly 
his  own.  He  was  full  of  enthusiasm  and  when  in  the  arena  his  grand  com- 
manding presence  filled  and  brightened  the  old  lecture  hall.  Every  student  was 
on  the  alert  to  meet  the  steady  stream  of  descriptive  word  pictures  which  the 
giant  in  the  arena  drew  and  fixed  in  the  minds  of  every  student  before  him.  He 
had  no  stories  to  tell,  but  was  full  of  business  anatomy  from  start  to  finish. 

"In  private  practice  his  personality  was  just  as  strong  as  in  the  lecture 
room.  His  patients  loved  him.  He  never  spoke  harshly  to  a  patient.  I  have 
heard  him  say,  'the  man  who  will  become  angry  or  abuse  a  patient,  or  speak 
harshly  to  a  parturient  woman,  is  a  knave  and  deserves  a  beating.' 

"Surgery  was  his  choice  in  practice,  and  his  knowledge  of  anatomy  made 
him  a  skillful  and  dextrous  operator.  He  seized  upon  all  the  rapidly  increasing 
innovations  in  surgery  of  twenty  years  ago  and  adopted  them,  for  his  scientific 
spirit  caught  and  adopted  the  sensible  ideas  of  aseptic  and  clean  surgery  even 
in  those  days. 

"He  was  a  man  of  strong  convictions.  He  hated  vice  and  stamped  it  out 
at  any  opportunity.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  convictions  and  consequently 
had  enemies.  These  he  hated  as  cordially  as  he  loved  his  horde  of  friends. 
Professor  Rea  was  a  great  man,  and  his  stamp  will  remain  upon  the  profession 
of  medicine  of  the  West  forever.  Thousands  of  his  students  are  scattered 
over  the  great  West,  many  of  them  old  men  now,  and  they  all  look  back  to  the 
student  days  with  special  love  and  admiration  for  the  man  who  made  of  the 
usually  stupid,  dry  and  musty  subject  of  anatomy  a  romance  full  of  interesting 
incidents  and  never  to  be  forgotten  practical  facts. 

"The  methods  of  teaching  anatomy  have  changed ;  the  didactic  demonstra- 
tion lecture  has  given  place  to  laboratory  methods  in  anatomy  as  in  the  prac- 
tical branches  of  medicine.  The  many  brilliant  lectures  of  the  past  would  be 
lost  now,  but  we  must  praise  the  grand  men  who  by  their  eloquence  and 
strong  personality  taught,  by  the  best  methods  of  that  day,  the  many  subjects 
of  medicine  and  surgery. 

"In  that  brilliant  throng  Professor  Rea  stands  in  the  front  rank,  a 
noble,  generous  giant  in  body  and  mind." 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  97 

ARCHIBALD  CHURCH,  M.  D. 

As  an  eminently  successful  physician  in  the  treatment  of  Nervous  and 
Mental  Diseases  Dr.  Church  ranks  foremost  among  the  specialists  in  his 
line  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  He  is  a  native  of  Fond  du  Lac,  Wisconsin,  born 
March  23,  1861,  son  of  George  W.  and  Susan  Church,  who  were  of  Eng- 
lish birth.  The  Doctor  received  his  early  education  in  the  public  schools, 
subsequently  studying  two  years  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  Then  he 
entered  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Chicago,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  1884.  The  year  of  his  graduation  Dr.  Church  was  appointed 
Assistant  Physician  on  the  Medical  Staff  of  the  Illinois  State  Hospital  for 
the  Insane,  at  Elgin,  Illinois,  and  continued  in  that  service  four  years.  Fol- 
lowing this  he  studied  abroad  for  a  year  in  London,  Paris,  Vienna,  Berlin  and 
Halle,  and  returning  settled  in  Chicago,  where  he  has  remained  in  active 
practice  up  to  the  present.  In  1890  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Nervous 
Diseases  in  the  Chicago  Policlinic,  retaining  that  position  until  1900.  In 
1892  he  was  elected  to  the  professorship  of  Mental  Diseases  and  Medical 
Jurisprudence  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  Northwestern  University,  which  Chair  in  1900  was  enlarged  to  embrace 
Nervous  and  Mental  Diseases  and  Medical  Jurisprudence.  He  has  done 
considerable  in  the  line  of  hospital  work.  In  1892-93  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Staff  of  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  and  he  has  since  served  as  Neurolo- 
gist to  Wesley,  St.  Luke's  and  the  Chicago  Hospitals,  the  Home  for  Destitute 
Crippled  Children  and  the  Lying-in  Hospital,  all  of  Chicago.  Dr.  Church 
has  added  much  to  the  literature  of  the  profession,  and  as  organizer  of  the 
Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  of  which  he  has  been  editor  throughout  the  period 
of  its  existence,  is  entitled  to  special  credit  in  this  respect.  We  append  here- 
with a  list  of  his  own  contributions :  "Some  General  Considerations  in  the 
Treatment  of  Epilepsy,"  Transactions,  Chicago  Medical  Society,  July  15, 
1889.  "Syringomyelia,"  North  American  Practitioner,  July,  1889.  "Com- 
parative Study  of  Common  Forms  of  Convulsions,"  Times  and  Register, 
New  York,  October  26,  1889.  "Peripheral  Irritation  in  Nervous  Diseases," 
Weekly  Medical  Reineiv,  St.  Louis,  February  8,  1890.  "The  Nature  of 
Tetanus,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  March  22,  1890.  "The 
Proper  Disposition  of  the  Criminal  Insane,"  North  American  Practitioner, 
April,  1890.  "Contribution  to  Brain  Surgery,"  American  Journal  Medical 
Sciences,  July,  1890.  "Cerebral  Cortical  Localization  and  Brain  Surgery," 
North  American  Practitioner.  October.  1890.  "Multiple  Neuritis,"  Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  November  i,  1890.  "Morvan's  Disease, 
with  Clinical  Report  of  a  Case,"  Journal  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, March  7,  1891.  "The  Nervous  Features  and  Sequences  of  La 


98  A    GROUP   OF   DISTINGUISHED 

Grippe,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  July,  1891.  "Athetosis:  with  Clinical 
Cases,"  Review  of  Insanity  and  Nervous  Diseases,  February,  1892.  "Con- 
tribution to  Spinal  Cord  Surgery,"  American  Journal  Medical  Sciences, 
April,  1892.  "The  Vertigo  of  Arterial  Sclerosis,"  Medical  Nezus,  June 
25,  1892.  "The  early  Diagnosis  and  Treatment  of  Acute  Anterior  Poliomye- 
litis," Northwestern  Lancet,  December,  1892.  "Acromegaly,"  Medical  Re- 
cord, May  6,  1893.  "Removal  of  the  Ovaries  and  Tubes  in  the  Insane  and 
Neurotic,"  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  1893.  "Cerebral  Palsy  of  Chil- 
dren," Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  August,  1894.  "Pseudohypertrophic 
Paralysis,"  International  Clinics,  Vol.  i,  fifth  series.  "The  Hemiplegic  State 
and  its  Treatment,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  June,  1897.  "Differential 
Diagnosis  and  Treatment  of  Cerebral  Hemorrhage  and  Cerebral  Throm- 
bosis," Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  October,  1897.  "Writer's  Cramp,"  Phil- 
adelphia Medical  Journal,  February,  1898.  "Cerebellar  Tumor  Recognized, 
Clinically  Demonstrated  by  the  X-ray  and  Proved  by  the  Autopsy,"  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Medical  Sciences,  February,  1899.  "Department  of  Nervous 
and  Mental  Diseases,"  American  Year  Book  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  \Y.  B. 
Saunders  &  Co.,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  London,  for  1896,  1897,  1898, 
1899,  1900,  1901,  1902,  1903,  1904.  "A  Treatise  on  Mental  and  Nervous 
Diseases,"  by  Church  and  Peterson,  W.  B.  Saunders  &  Co.,  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  London,  1899,  four  editions.  "A  Case  of  Spinal  Arthritis  De- 
formans,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  October,  1899.  "The  General  Symp- 
toms of  Brain  Tumor  and  the  Differential  Diagnosis,"  Chicago  Medical  Re- 
corder, April,  1900.  "The  Treatment  of  the  Opium  Habit  by  the  Bromide 
Method,"  Neiv  York  Medical  Journal,  June  9,  1900.  "Trional  Fatalities," 
by  Archibald  Church  and  E.  D.  Hutchinson,  Chicago  Medical  Recorder, 
November,  1901.  "Spinal  Cord  Conditions  in  Severe  Anemias,"  New  York 
Medical  Journal,  July  26,  1902.  "Migraine  in  Masquerade,"  Chicago  Medi- 
cal Recorder,  October,  1902. 

The  following  tribute  to  Dr.  Church's  standing  is  from  the  pen  of  Dr. 
N.  S.  Davis,  Sr. :  "Dr.  Archibald  Church,  of  Chicago,  is  a  thoroughly 
educated  member  of  the  medical  profession,  who  by  limiting  his  attention 
to  the  department  of  Nervous  and  Mental  Diseases  has  acquired  a  high  repu- 
tation both  as  a  teacher  and  practitioner,  and  also  as  a  valuable  contributor  to 
medical  literature.  He  is  an  active  and  influential  member  of  the  National, 
State  and  City  Medical  Societies,  and  an  influential  member  of  the  Faculty 
of  the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School." 

On  March  28,  1894,  Dr.  Church  was  married  in  Maysville,  Kentucky, 
to  Margaret  Mitchell  Finch.  They  have  one  child,  Archibald  Church,  Jr. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


/ 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  99 

DANIEL  ROBERTS  BROWER,  M.  S.,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Dr.  Daniel  Roberts  Brower  was  born  in  Manayunk,  Pennsylvania,  a 
son  of  Daniel  Rife  and  Ann  Billop  (Farmer)  Brower,  the  former  a  descen- 
dant of  the  Brower  family  who  very  early  settled  on  the  Schuylkill  river,  in 
Montgomery  county.  Mrs.  Ann  Billop  (Farmer)  Brower  was  a  daughter  of 
a  major  in  the  English  army,  who,  while  on  duty  with  his  regiment,  met  and 
married  Ann  Pawling,  daughter  of  Major  Pawling,  a  Tory  during  the  Revo- 
lution. After  the  close  of  the  war  Major  Farmer  resigned  his  commission  and 
made  his  home  in  Pennsylvania. 

Shortly  after  Daniel  Roberts  Brower  was  born,  the  family  moved  to 
Phcenixville,  and  there  his  education  began  under  a  very  clever  teacher.  When 
he  was  thirteen  years  of  age  the  family  moved  to  Norristown,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  entered  Tremont  Seminary,  then  an  excellent  school  under  the 
charge  of  Rev.  Samuel  Aaron.  In  that  institution  he  was  prepared  for  entrance 
into  the  Polytechnic  College  of  Philadelphia,  from  which  he  graduated  with 
honors  in  1858  as  Bachelor  of  Science.  His  inaugural  address  on  the  ventila- 
tion and  drainage  of  mines  was  complimentel  by  being  published  in  full  with 
favorable  comment  in  The  London  (England)  Mining  Engineer,  the  then 
leading  publication  of  the  world.  In  1861  his  Alma  Mater  conferred  on  him 
the  degree  of  M.  S.  He  followed  the  profession  of  mine  engineering  about 
one  year  in  western  Virginia,  and  then,  in  response  to  what  had  been  the 
ardent  desire  of  his  life  for  many  years,  he  began  the  study  of  medicine,  and  in 
February,  1864,  graduated  from  the  Medical  Department  of  Georgetown 
University. 

Shortly  before  graduation  he  passed  the  army  medical  board  of  examiners, 
then  sitting  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and  was  commissioned  Assistant  Surgeon 
United  States  Volunteers,  by  President  Lincoln.  He  was  assigned  to  duty  at 
the  United  States  General  Hospital,  Portsmouth,  Va.  After  a  short  service 
there  he  was  ordered  to  the  general  hospital  at  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia, 
then  the  largest  hospital  in  the  United  States,  and  here  his  surgical  service 
was  very  active  and  extensive.  In  1865  he  was  brevetted  Captain,  by  Presi- 
dent Johnson.  From  Fortress  Monroe  he  was  ordered  to  Norfolk,  Virginia, 
as  Chief  Medical  Officer  of  the  military  district  of  eastern  Virginia.  He  con- 
tinued in  this  capacity  until  1866,  when  he  organized,  under  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau,  at  Richmond,  Virginia,  the  first  hospital  for  the  care  of  the  insane 
freedmen.  In  1868  the  Medical  College  of  Virginia,  at  Richmond,  conferred 
upon  him  the  degree  of  M.  D.,  and  the  next  year  he  was  elected  Medical  Sup- 
erintendent of  the  Eastern  Lunatic  Asylum  of  Virginia,  at  Williamsburg,  and 
served  in  this  capacity  until  the  autumn  of  1875.  While  in  this  position  he 
quite  generally  remodeled  the  buildings,  and  introduced  many  reforms  in  the 
care  and  treatment  of  the  insane;  among  other  things  schools  were  established, 


zoo  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

shops  for  various  industries,  systematic  exercises  were  introduced,  as  well 
as  a  constant  succession  of  varied  amusements.  A  farm  was  purchased  for 
the  occupation  of  the  patients,  yielding  a  supply  of  various  farm  products. 

In  1875  he  removed  to  Chicago,  Illinois,  with  his  family,  consisting  of  a 
wife,  the  daughter,  of  Col.  A.  W.  Shearer  and  Eunice  Norris  (Schrack) 
Shearer,  whom  he  married  May  15,  1867,  and  two  children,  a  daughter  and 
a  son.  In  Chicago  he  began  at  once  the  practice  of  his  profession,  devoting 
himself  especially  to  the  treatment  of  mental  and  nervous  diseases. 

The  career  of  Dr.  Brower  in  Chicago,  with  his  honors  and  his  triumphs, 
would  fill. a  volume.  In  1877  ne  became  Professor  of  Nervous  Diseases  in  the 
Woman's  Medical  College,  a  position  he  most  ably  filled  until  within  a  few 
years;  from  1889  to  1899  was  Professor  of  Mental  Diseases  in  Rush  Medical 
College;  from  1891  to  1899,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics, 
in  Rush  Medical  College.  At  the  present  time  he  is  Professor  of 
Mental  and  Nervous  Diseases  in  Rush  Medical  College;  Professor 
of  Mental  and  Nervous  Diseases  in  the  Post-Graduate  Medical  School  of 
Chicago.  He  is  the  Neurologist  to  St.  Joseph's  Hospital,  and  Cook 
County  Hospital,  all  of  Chicago.  He  is  Consulting  Physician  to  the  Presby- 
terian Hospital,  Woman's  Hospital,  State  of  Illinois  •  Woman's  and  Chil- 
dren's Hospital,  and  the  Washingtonian  Home,  all  of  Chicago.  He  has  been 
President  of  the  State  Medical  Society  of  Illinois,  of  the  Chicago  Medical 
Society,  and  of  the  Medico-Legal  Society  of  Chicago.  He  was  for  a  number 
of  years  the  Editor  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Journal.  He  has  been  a  frequent 
contributor  to  various  medical  journals,  selecting  his  topic  usually  from 
mental  and  nervous  diseases.  He  has  devoted  considerable  time  to  the  study 
of  geology,  mineralogy,  botany  and  anthropology,  especially  criminal  anthro- 
pology. He  is  regarded  as  an  excellent  lecturer,  and  in  addition  to  the 
lectures  given  by  him,  both  clinical  and  didactic,  at  the  several  medical  col- 
leges, he  frequently  addresses  non-professional  audiences  on  various  topics, 
chiefly  anthropological.  Various  institutions  of  learning  have  rejoiced  to 
to  do  him  honor.  Wabash  College,  Indiana,  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
A.  M. ;  while  St.  Ignatius  College,  Chicago,  and  his  Alma  Mater,  University 
of  Georgetown,  D.  C.,  have  both  honored  him  with  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  writes :  "Dr.  Daniel  R.  Brower  is  now  and  has  been 
for  many  years,  one  of  the  most  prominent  students  and  successful  practi- 
tioners in  the  important  departments  of  Psychology  and  Neurology.  Inherit- 
ing mental  faculties  naturally  well  balanced,  and  having  broadly  cultivated 
them  by  education  and  study  of  the  whole  field  of  medicine,  he  has  been 
enabled  to  comprehend  and  teach,  not  only  the  physiology  and  pathology  of 
the  brain  and  nerves,  but  also  the  true  relations  they  bear  to  all  the  other 
functions  and  organs  of  the  body.  Consequently  his  many  contributions  to 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  101 

medical  literature  are  characterized  by  clearness  of  thought,  logical  reasoning 
and  just  comprehension  of  his  subjects,  thereby  properly  entitling  him  to  the 
high  rank  freely  accorded  to  him." 

Among  Dr.  Brower's  contributions  to  Neurology  may  be  mentioned : 
Six  reports  of  the  Medical  Superintendent  of  the  Eastern  Lunatic  Asylum 
for  the  years  1870,  1871,  1872,  1873,  1874  and  1875,  respectively,  and  pub- 
lished by  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia,  Richmond,  Virginia,  in  the  above 
years;  "A  Case  of  Suicidal  Melancholia,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Ex- 
aminer, Vol.  33,  p.  690,  1876;  "Traumatic  Insanity  in  Its  Medico-Legal 
Relations,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  Vol.  39,  p.  609,  1879; 
"A  New  Surface  Thermometer,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner, 
Vol.  40,  p.  505,  1880;  "Hyoscyamine,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Ex- 
aminer, Vol.  41,  p.  261,  1880;  "Traumatic  Tetanus,"  Chicago  Medical  Jour- 
nal and  Examiner,  Vol.  45,  p.  449,  1882;  "A  Case  of  Epileptiform  Convul- 
sion and  Paralysis  Due  to  Syphilitic  Tumor,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and 
Examiner,  Vol.  46,  p.  21,  1883;  "Concealed  Insanity,  as  Illustrated  by  Case 
of  Mark  Gray,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  Vol.  47,  p.  289, 
September,  1883;  "The  Effects  of  Cocaine  on  the  Central  Nervous  System," 
Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  Vol.  52,  p.  173,  1886;  "A  Clinical 
Lecture  on  Tubercular  Meningitis,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association, 
January  7,  1888;  "A  Clinical  Lecture:  Poliomyelitis  Anterior  Acute," 
Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  Vol.  46,  p.  273,  1888;  "A  Clinical 
Lecture  on  Hemicrania,"  Western  Medical  Reporter,  March,  1888;  "Exoph- 
thalmic Goitre  and  Its  Treatment  by  Tincture  of  Strophanthus,"  Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  November  3,  1888;  "The  Clinical  Uses  of 
Electricity,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  December,  1888;  "The 
Clinical  Uses  of  Electricity,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  Vol. 
46,  p.  i,  1889;  "The  Treatment  of  Locomotor  Ataxia,"  Proceedings  Interna- 
tional Medical  Congress,  Berlin,  1890;  "Cerebral  Paralysis,"  Clinical  Lecture 
delivered  at  North  Western  University  Woman's  Medical  College,  December, 
1892;  "Cerebral  Paralysis,"  Chicago  Clinical  Review,  Vol.  i.  p.  193,  1893; 
"Prevention  and  Treatment  of  Cholera,"  Chicago  Clinical  Reviezv, 
p.  14,  Vol  2,  1893;  "Neurological  Clinic:  Multiple  Sclerosis;"  "Lateral 
Spinal  Sclerosis,"  Chicago  Clinical  Review,  Vol.  2,  p.  37,  1893;  "Neurologi- 
cal Clinic:  Mania,  Parralysis  Agitans;  Cerebro-Spinal  Meningitis,"  Chicago 
Clinical  Rei'iew,  Vol.  2,  p.  995,  1893;  "Multiple  Neuritis  of  Rheu- 
matic Origin  and  Brain  Paralysis,"  Chicago  Clinical  Review,  Vol. 
2-  P-  377-  J893;  "Some  Suggestions  as  to  Treatment  of  Cere- 
bral Hemorrhage,"  Chicago  Clinical  Review,  Vol.  3.  p.  89,  1893; 
"The  Murderer  of  Mayor  Harrison  a  Paranoiac,"  Chicago  Magazine  of  Cur- 
rent Topics,  February,  1894;  "Medical  Expert  Testimony,"  read  before  the 


102  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  1894;  "A  Case  of  Gumma  of  the  Cerebrum," 
Journal  American  Medical  Association,  Vol.  24,  No.  2,  1894;  "Cerebral 
Meningitis;  Lead  Poisoning;  Alcoholism,"  International  Clinics,  Vol.  I,  4th 
series,  1894 — Philadelphia;  "Clinical  Lecture  on  Mental  Diseases,"  Chicago 
Clinical  Review,  Vol.  3,  p.  597,  1894;  "Some  Suggestions  in  the  Treatment 
of  Locomotor  Ataxia,"  The  Corpuscle,  Chicago,  October,  1895;  "Clinic: 
Paralysis,  Brain  Disease,  Primary  Lateral  Sclerosis,  Brain  Disease,"  Chicago 
Review,  Vol.  4,  p.  291,  1895;  "Cerebral  Meningitis,  Concussion  of  the  Brain: 
Sciatica:  Two  Cases  Cholera,"  International  Clinics,  Vol.  i,  5th  Series,  1895 
— Philadelphia;  Chairman's  Address,  Section  on  Neurology  and  Medical 
Jurisprudence,  46th  Annual  Meeting  American  Medical  Association,  subject: 
"Progress  in  Neurology,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  Vol. 
25,  No.  21,  1895;  "Auto-Infection  in  Disease  of  Nervous  System  and  Its 
Treatment,"  Chicago  Clinical  Review,  Vol.  5,  p.  160,  1895;  "The  Medical 
Aspects  of  Crime,"  President's  Address,  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  1895; 
"Aphasia,  Cerebral  Hemorrhage,"  International  Clinics,  Vol.  n,  5th  Series, 
1895 — Philadelphia;  "Two  cases  of  Epilepsy,"  International  Clinics,  Vol.  4, 
4th  Series,  1895 — Philadelphia;  "The  Teaching  of  Materia  Medica  and 
Therapeutics,"  American  Medical  Association — Atlanta,  1896;  "On  the 
Regulation  of  Marriage,"  American  Medical  Association,  1896;  "The 
Necessity  of  Granting  Privileged  Communications  to  the  Medical  Profession 
in  the  State  of  Illinois,"  read  before  the  Medico-Legal  Society,  December  5, 
1896;  "Relation  of  Certain  Diseases  of  the  Nervous  System  to  Life  Insur- 
ance," Chicago  Clinical  Rei'icw,  Vol.  5,  p.  358,  1896;  "Some  Suggestions  as 
to  Treatment  of  Cerebral  Hemorrhage,"  Vol.  5,  p.  532,  Chicago  Clinical  Re- 
view; "Hemiplegia :  Epilepsy :  Apyretic  Typhoid  Fever ;  Probable  Menin- 
gitis:  General  Myelitis,"  International  Clinics,  Vol.  i,  6th  series,  1896 — 
Philadelphia;  The  Habitual  Criminal  Report  of  Special  Committee  Medico- 
Legal  Society,  1896;  "Anemia:  Some  Suggestions  in  Diagnosis  and  Treat- 
ment," North  American  Practitioner,  Chicago,  September,  1896:  "Cerebral 
Syphilis;  Some  Observations  on  its  Diagnosis  and  Treatment,"  Peoria  Medi- 
cal Journal,  October,  1896;  "The  Etiological  Factors  in  Crime  and  Treat- 
ment of  Criminals,"  New  York  Medico-Legal  Society,  July,  1896:  "Four 
Cases  of  Diplegia  in  a  Family  of  Five,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Academy  of 
Medicine,  December.  1896 — Medicine,  January,  1897;  "Clinical  Lecture 
on  Mental  Diseases,"  Chicago  Review,  Vol.  6,  p.  136,  1896;  "Friedreichs 
Ataxia  or  Hereditary  Ataxia,"  Clinical  Lecture  Woman's  Medical  College — 
Journal  American  Medical  Association,  April  24,  1897;  Climate  in  its  Rela- 
tion to  Disease  of  the  Nervous  System,"  read  before  the  Climatological  Asso- 
ciation, May  4,  1897;  "Infantile  Paralysis,"  Revieiv  of  Insanity  and  Nervous 
Disease,  November,  1890;  "Treatment  of  Locomotor  Ataxia,"  read  before 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  103 

the  Section  on  Neurology,  International :  Medical  Congress,  Moscow,  August, 
1897,  and  Published  in  Transactions;  "Report  of  a  Clinic  on  Exophthalmic 
Goitre  and  Facial  Paralysis,"  American1  Practitioner^.  Chicago/  January, 
1898;  "Report  of  a  Clinic  on  Insanity,"  Chicago  Medical  Standard,  Feb- 
ruary, 1898;  "Some  Observations  on  Treatment  of  Tabes  Dorsalis,"  Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  January  22,  1898;  "Auto-intoxication  in  its 
Relations  to  Disease  of  the  Nervous  System,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  March  12,  1898;  "The  Etiology  and  Treatment  of1  Criminals," 
North  American  Practitioner,  February  15,  1898;'  "The  Therapeutics  of 
Aurum,"  American  Medical  Association,  Denver,  June  7,  1898;  "Diet  in  the 
Uric  Acid  Diathesis,"  American  Medical  Association,  Denver,  June  8,  1898; 
"Cerebral  Meningitis,  Some  Suggestions  on  Diagnosis  and  Treatment," 
American  Medical  Association,  Denver,  June  9,  1898;  "Suggestions  as  to 
Limitation  and  Treatment  of  Juvenile  Criminals,"  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, Denver,  June  9,  1898;  "Medical  Aspects  of  Crime,"  Journal  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,  June  10,  1899;  Several  Clinical  Lectures  in  Inter- 
national Clinics,  Philadelphia;  "Treatment  of  Epilepsy,"  Medical  Age,  June 
25,  1901;  "Practical  Manual  of  Insanity,"  W.  B.  Saunders  &  Co.,  1902; 
"Clinical  Lecture,  Hemiplegia;  Epilepsy;  Infantile  Giantism,"  Chicago  Clini- 
cal Review,  January,  1902;  "Some  Suggestions  for  the  Better  Care  and 
Treatment  of  the  Insane,"  Illinois  Medical  Journal,  January  7,  1902;  "A 
Neurological  Clinic,  "The  Medical  Standard,  Chicago,  February,  1902; 
"Drug  Treatment  of  Neurasthenia,"  International  Medical  Journal,  March, 
1902;  "Some  Observations  on  Treatment  of  Acute  Insanity  in  General  Hos- 
pitals," Proceedings  American  Medico-psychological  Association,  1902,  and 
"A  Neurological  Clinic,  Hemiplegias,"  The  Medical  Standard,  July,'  1902. 


WILLIAM  B.  HERRICK,  M.  D. 

Dr.  William  B.  Herrick  was  born  September  20,  1813,  at  Durham, 
Maine,  and  obtained  his  early  education  in  the  vicinity  of  his  home,  but  sup- 
plemented his  scholastic  tuition  by  persistent  study  and  a  judicious  course  of 
reading.  When  he  was  sixteen  year,s  old  he  commenced  teaching  school,  at 
intervals  attending  the  Gorham  Academy,  Maine.  While  there  he  deter- 
mined upon  becoming  a  physician,  in  pursuance  of  which  intention  he  at- 
tended medical  lectures  at  Bowdoin  and  Dartmouth  Colleges,  and  graduated 
from  Dartmouth  as  an  M.  D.,  November  16,  1836, 

In  1837  Dr.  Herrick  settled  in  Lousiville,  Kentucky,  and  was  appointed 
Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the  Louisville  Medical  College.  He 


io4  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

only  remained  in  that  city  two  years,  and  in  1839,  removed  to  Hillsboro, 
Illinois,  where,  in  1840,  he  married  Martha  J.  Seward,  daughter  of  John 
B.  Seward,  who  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  State.  He  remained  in  Hills- 
boro until  1844,  when  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  was  made  Professor  of 
Anatomy  in  Rush  Medical  College. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  war  he  received  the  appointment  of  As- 
sistant Surgeon  of  the  First  Illinois  Volunteers,  and  faithfully  performed 
all  the  arduous  duties  of  the  office  of  surgeon.  He  participated  in  the  move- 
ments and  engagements  of  his  regiment,  and  was  with  them  jn  the  battle  of 
Buena  Vista,  and,  afterward,  was  in  charge  of  the  hospital  at  Saltillo,  Mex- 
ico, until  the  sickness  caused  by  the  exposure  and  fatigues  of  the  campaign 
necessitated  his  resignation  on  May  24,  1847. 

Returning  to  the  North  he  entered  on  a  private  practice  in  Chicago, 
which  he  maintained  until  1857,  also  occupying  a  Chair  of  Anatomy  in  Rush 
Medical  College.  He  was  likewise  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society  and  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  and  was  always 
prominently  identified  with  all  that  was  either  beneficial  for  the  medical  fra- 
ternity, or  the  public  health.  In  1857  he  was  compelled  to  relinquish  his 
practice  and  seek,  by  climatic  change,  the  restoration  of  his  health.  But  the 
rigors  of  campaign  life  had  been  too  potent  for  his  constitution,  which,  how- 
ever, did  not  succumb  entirely  until  1865.  On  the  last  day  of  that  year,  at  his 
home  in  Maine,  the  spirit  of  DrP  William  B.  Herrick  passed  from  this  earth, 
and  the  new  year  dawned  for  him  in  the  undiscovered  hereafter. 

Dr.  Herrick  was  a  prominent  and  influential  Mason,  a  past  master  of 
Oriental  Lodge,  a  member  of  Apollo  Commandery,  and  a  past  grand  master 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons  of  the  State  of  Illinois. 

A  brief  sketch  of  his  life  and  work  as  outlined  by  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr., 
is  appended :  "Dr.  William  B.  Herrick,  born  and  educated  in  the  State  of 
Maine,  became  a  resident  of  Chicago  in  1844.  The  following  year  he  was 
elected  to  the  Professorship  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology  in  Rush  Medical 
College,  which  he  filled  with  marked  ability  for  ten  years.  During  the  time 
he  also  acquired  a  wide  reputation  as  a  practical  surgeon,  a  ready  writer, 
a  profound  thinker,  and  a  most  estimable  citizen.  He  participated  in  the 
organization  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society  in  1850,  and  was  its  first 
president.  During  the  same  year  he  aided  in  the  organization  of  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society ;  and  during  a  part  of  the  time  he  was  one  of  the  editors  of 
the  Illnois  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal.  He  served  with  distinction  as 
surgeon  to  an  Illinois  Regiment  of  Volunteer?  during  the  military  campaign 
in  Mexico  in  1846-7.  On  his  return,  he  resumed  his  professional  and  college 
duties,  but  soon  began  to  show  signs  of  spinal  paresis,  which,  in  1854,  ren- 
dered his  lower  extremities  entirely  useless,  nnd  compelled  him  to  resign  his 
professorship  and  return  to  his  native  State,  where  he  died." 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  105 

FERDINAND  CARL  HOTZ,  M.  D. 

Ferdinand  Carl  Hotz,  the  eminent  Chicago  specialist  in  Affections  of 
the  Eye  and  Ear,  was  born  at  the  picturesque  town  of  Wertheim,  in  South 
Germany,  July  12,  1843.  His  parents,  Gottfried  and  Rosa  Hotz,  gave  him 
admirable  educational  advantages.  A  thorough  training  in  the  common 
schools  and  Lyceum,  which  he  completed  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  was 
followed  by  a  four  years'  course  in  medicine  at  the  University  of  Jena,  his 
professional  studies  being  completed  at  Heidelberg,  a  seat  of  learning  whose 
fame  has  spread  to  every  civilized  quarter  of  the  habitable  globe.  From  this 
venerable  institution  he  graduated  in  1865.  During  the  last  year  of  his 
course  there,  and  for.  twelve  months  after  graduation,  he  was  Interne  at.  the 
University  Hospital,  the  grave  responsibilities  of  which  post  he  discharged 
with  the  same  conscientiousness  which  has  ever  been  one  of  the  distinctive 
characteristics  of  his  personal  and  professional  life  in  later  years.  During 
the  Austro-Prussian  war  of  1866  he  served  as  an  army  surgeon.  After 
the  close  of  the  war  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  those  specialties  for 
which  innate  inclination  and  inborn  aptitude  so  richly  qualified  him,  and  in 
the  practice  of  which  he  has  world-wide  fame.  Among  his  preceptors  were 
such  eminent  men  as  Graefe,  the  celebrated  oculist  of  Berlin,  and  Gruber  and 
Politzer,  of  Vienna,  no  less  famous  as  aurists.  His  practical  experience  in 
his  professional  specialty  has  been  both  long  and  broad.  In  1868  he  was 
appointed  House  Surgeon  at  the  University  Hospital  at  Heidelberg,  and  in 
1869  he  attended  clinics  at  Paris,  London,  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow.  In 
August  of  that  year  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  at  once  located  in 
Chicago,  where,  in  1873,  he  married  Miss  Emma  R.  Rosenmerkel,  a  daugh- 
ter of  F.  W.  Rosenmerkel,  the  pioneer  druggist  of  that  city.  To  give  a  de- 
tailed statement  of  the  posts  of  responsibility  and  honor  which  he  has  held 
in  the  city  of  his  adoption  would  be  to  transcend  the  limits  necessarily  as- 
signed to  this  brief  and  imperfect  sketch.  Among  them,  however,  may  be 
mentioned  the  following:  Oculist  and  Aurist  at  Cook  County  Hospital, 
1870-75;  Attending  Surgeon  at  the  Illinois  Charitable  Eye  and  Ear  In- 
firmary, 1875-92;  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology  at  the  Woman's 
Medical  College,  1871-75 ;  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  in  the  Chicago  Poli- 
clinic'College,  1890;  Oculist  and  Aurist  at  the  Presbyterian  Hospital,  1897, 
and  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology  at  Rush  Medical  College,  1897. 
In  1888  he  was  made  chairman  of  the  Section  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology 
of  the  American  Medical  Association.  He  also  founded  the  Chicago  Society 
of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology,  of  which  he  was  the  President  the  first  three 
years. 

While  never  an  aspirant  for  office,  Dr.  Hotz  was  tendered,  and  accepted, 


106  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

a  position  on  the  Public  Library  Board  of  Chicago  in  1875,  an^  served  in  that 
capacity  for  three  years,  bringing  to  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  a  keen 
intelligence  and  a  ripened  judgment. 

He  has  been  a  valued,  although  not  a  prolific,  contributor  to  many  of 
the  leading  medical  journals  of  the  country,  and  has  gained  wide  repute  as 
an  author.  Among  the  most  valuable  of  his  brochures,  the  following  may 
be  enumerated :  "Intra-Ocular  Lesions  through  Sun-Strokes,"  "New  Opera- 
tion for  Entropium,"  "Mastoid  Operations,"  "Plastic  Lid  Surgery," .  and 
"Skin  Grafts  in  Eye  Surgery."  He  also  prepared  a  chapter  on  "Lid  Opera- 
tions," for  the  "American  Textbook  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye,  Ear,  Nose  and 
Throat." 

In  social  life  Dr.  Hotz  is  a  man  of  geniality,  as  well  as  magnetic  per- 
sonality, and  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  shows  a  broad  charity.  He 
is  a  member;  of  the  Germania  and  of  the  Glenview  Golf  Clubs.  He  has 
traveled  extensively  in  both  this  country  and  Europe,  visiting  some  noted 
places  of  interest,  at  home  or  abroad,  every  year. 


TRUMAN  W.  MILLER,  M.  D. 

On  May  31,  1900,  in  Chicago,  occurred  the  death  of  Dr.  Truman  W. 
Miller,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  physicians  and  surgeons  of  the  West, 
who  for  thirty-seven  years  was  one  of  the  leading  practitioners  in  Chicago. 

Dr.  Miller  was  born  in  Lodi,  New  York,  March  2,  1840.  He  received 
his  professional  education  at  Geneva  Medical  College,  aand  at  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  New  York  City.  In  1862  he  was  appointed 
Medical  Cadet  in  the  United  States  Army,  and  the  following  year  won  pro- 
motion to  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon.  In  that  same  year  he  received  his 
degree  of  M.  D.  He  served  in  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  until  after  the 
battle  of  the  Wilderness,  when,  owing  to  ill  health,  he  was  transferred  to 
Chicago  and  assigned  to  duty  as  Post  and  Examining  Surgeon,  which  posi- 
tion he  held  until  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1873  he  was  appointed  Assistant 
Surgeon,  United  States  Marine  Hospital.  Chicago,  and  in  1877  was  promoted 
to  Surgeon,  which  position  he  held  until  his  resignation  in  1886.  During 
this  period  he  was  Surgeon  of  the  First  Regiment.  Illinois  National  Guard. 
During  his  very  active  life  he  served  on  the  staff  of  many  of  Chicago's  prom- 
inent hospitals.  The  Policlinic  had  its  origin  with  him,  and  to  his  exertions 
and  wise  management  are  due  the  sound  financial  and  professional  success 
which  that  progressive  institution  enjoys  today.  He  was  its  first  and  only 
president  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  and  he  possessed  the  absolute  confidence 


J    H    SEE15  1  HO 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINC13 
URBANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  107 

of  all  his  colleagues.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  Professor  of  Surgery 
at  the  Chicago  Policinic,  Consulting  Surgeon  to  St.  Joseph's,  the  German  and 
the  Alexian  Brothers  Hospitals,  Surgeon-in-chief  to  many  of  the  leading 
lines  of  railroads,  and  Medical  Referee  and  Consulting  Surgeon  to  a  number 
of  life  and  accidental  insurance  companies. 

Dr.  Miller  was  an  active  member  of  all  the  leading  national  and  local 
medical  societies,  and  was  a  member,  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 
Socially  he  was  a  member  of  several  of  the  leading  clubs  of  Chicago  and 
New  York.  The  Doctor  was  eminently  a  man  of  action,  and  he  contributed 
little  to  medical  literature.  His  energies  were  devoted  to  practical  profes- 
sional work,  especially  in  the  hospitals  and  as  a  clinical  instructor.  Possessed 
of  extraordinary  executive  ability,  rare  judgment,  quickness  of  perception 
and  tenacity  of  purpose,  he  was  a  leader  of  wide  influence  in  all  enterprises 
that  engaged  his  attention.  One  of  his  noted  traits  of  character  was  his  great 
kindness  to  young  men,  many  of  whom  owe  their  start  in  life  to  his  kind 
advice,  his  wise  counsel  and  his  generous  material  aid.  To  his  friends  he  was 
always  true,  to  his  enemies  just,  and  where  he  could  not  commend  he  'never 
condemned.  His  good  disposition  made  him  a  most  enjoyable  companion. 
As  his  honor  was  unimpeachable,  and  his  integrity  of  purpose  never  ques- 
tioned, his  influence  was  widely  felt.  His  habits  of  life  were  simple,  and  he 
was  a  man  of  the  people. 

Dr.  Miller  was  twice  married,  and  is  survived  by  his  second  wife  and 
daughter,  and  two  married  daughters  of  his  first  marriage. 


EPHRAIM  FLETCHER  INGALS,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Ingals  is  one  of  the  very  busy  and  well  known  men  in  medical  cir- 
cles in  Chicago,  and  a  specialist  of  international  renown  in  diseases  of  the 
Chest.  Throat  and  Nose.  Besides  attending  to  the  exacting  duties  of  his 
own  practice  he  is  connected  with  various  medical  institutions — schools, 
hospitals,  societies,  etc..  to  the  interests  of  which  he  has  contributed  freely 
of  his  time,  labor  and  means  and  he  has  done  much  to  raise  medical  educa- 
tion to  a  higher  plane  and  to  promote  the  best  interests  of  the  profession. 

The  Doctor  was  born  September  29,  1848,  at  Lee  Center,  Lee  county, 
Illinois,  where  his  parents,  Charles  Francis  and  Sarah  (Hawkins)  Ingals, 
were  among  the  early  settlers.  The  father  was  a  native  of  Abington,  Con- 
necticut, to  which  place  his  ancestors  had  moved  from  Massachusetts.  The 
family  is  an  old  one  in  N«w  England,  the  first  of  the  Doctor's  line  being 
one  of  two  brothers.  Edmund  and  Francis  Ingalls,  who  came  from  Lincoln- 


io8  A    GROUP  .OF    DISTINGUISHED 

shire,  England,  in  1628,  and  settled  in  Lynn.  Massachusetts.  James,  the 
grandson  of  Edmund  Ingalls,  moved  to  Abington,  Connecticut,  where  three 
generations  are  buried  side  by  side  in  one  cemetery.  Charles  Francis  Ingals 
came  to  Illinois  in  1834  and  carved  a  home  out  of  the  wilderness  in  Lee 
county,  where  for  many  years  he  was  one  of  the  prominent  men  and  a  lead- 
ing agriculturist  and  stockman.  He  and  his  wife  came  to  Chicago  in  the 
early  nineties  to  spend  their  closing  years  in  retirement.  Mrs.  Sarah  H. 
Ingals  was  a  native  of  Reading,  Vermont,  daughter  of  John  S.  and  Mary 
(Morrison)  Hawkins,  and  the  granddaughter  of  a  Revolutionary  soldier, 
who  served  throughout  the  war  as  captain  of  a  company  from  that  State. 

E.  Fletcher  Ingals  attended  the  public  schools  of  his  native  county  and  a 
branch  of  the  State  Normal  School  at  Bloomington,  Illinois,  and  also  the 
Rock  River  Seminary,  at  Mount  Morris,  Illinois.  He  came  to  Chicago  in 
1867,  and  later  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  Ephraim  Ingals, 
who  was  for  many  years  the  leading  spirit  in  Rush  Medical  College,  from 
which  institution  he  graduated  in  1871.  He  then  entered  the  Cook  County 
Hospital  as  an  Interne,  and  shortly  after  became  a  member  of  the  Spring 
Faculty  of  his  Alma  Mater,  acting  as  Assistant  Professor  of  Materia  Medica 
from  1871  to  1873.  He  has  been  connected  with  the  college  continually  to 
the  present  day.  He  was  Lecturer  on  Diseases  of  the  Chest  and  Physical 
Diagnosis,  Spring  Course,  from  1874  to  1883;  Professor  of  Laryngology 
from  1883  to  1890;  Professor  of  Laryngology  and  of  the  Practice  of  Medi- 
cine, 1890  to  1893;  Professor  of  Laryngology  and  Diseases  of  the  Chest, 
1893  to  1898;  and  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Chest,  Throat  and  Nose, 
and  Comptroller,  from  1898  to  the  present.  Such  a  record,  with  the  same 
institution,  would  put  the  mark  of  efficiency  on  any  man,  but  Dr.  Ingals's 
usefulness  as  a  teacher  has  not  been  limited  to  Rush  College.  As  the  larger 
schools  of  medicine  would  not  admit  women,  he  felt  that  their  faculties  owed 
a  duty  to  those  women  who  wished  to  study  the  profession,  therefore  he 
served  as  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Chest  in  the  Northwestern 
University  Woman's  Medical  School  from  1879  to  1898.  He  is  Professor 
of  Laryngology  and  Rhinology  in  the  Chicago  Policlinic,  and  Professorial 
Lecturer  on  Medicine  in  the  University  of  Chicago.  He  is  Attending  Physi- 
cian to  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  and  Attending  Laryngologist  in  the  Pres- 
byterian and  St.  Joseph's  Hospitals.  His  sole  ambition  in  life  has  been  to 
upbuild  his  Alma  Mater  and  to  add  something  to  his  chosen  profession.  How 
well  he  has  succeeded  is  evidenced  by  his  influence  on  medical  education. 

Dr.  Ingals's  influence  in  securing  the  affiliation  of  the  Rush  Medical 
College  with  the  University  of  Chicago,  whereby  great  strides  have  been 
taken  in  medical  teaching,  is  shown  by  the  following  statement  from  Dr. 
William  R.  Harper,  the  President  of  the  University :  "Even  before  the 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  109 

organization  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  Dr.  Ingals  proposed  affiliation 
between  the  University  and  Rush  Medical  College.  At  various  times  he 
urged  the  importance  of  this  step.  After  several  years,  in  large  part  because 
of  the  skill  which  he  showed  in  overcoming  difficulties — both  on  the  part 
of  the  Rush  Medical  Trustees  and  those  of  the  University — affiliation  was 
effected.  It  is  unquestionable  that  the  result  came  at  last  in  the  largest 
possible  measure  because  of  Dr.  Ingals's  diplomatic  labors." 

Dr.  Ingals's  connections  with  medical  societies  have  been  numerous 
and  important.  He  has  been  honored  with  the  Presidency  of  the  Illinois 
State  Medical  Society,  the  American  Laryngological  Association,  the  Amer- 
ican Climatological  Association,  the  American  Medical  College  Association, 
the  Laryngological  Section  of  the  Pan-American  Medical  Association,  and 
of  the  Pan-American  Medical  Congress,  etc.  Socially  he  holds  membership 
in  the  Quadrangle  Club,  the  Colonial  Club,  the  Chicago  Athletic  Association, 
the  Washington  Park  Club,  and  the  Homewood  Club.  He  served  one  year 
as  President  of  the  Citizens'  Association  and  is  a  member  of  the  Civic  Federa- 
tion. Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  he  is  interested  in  matters  outside  of  his  pro- 
fession, though  his  time  and  attention  are  given  almost  unreservedly  to  medi- 
cal matters.  However,  as  his  connection  with  the  Citizens'  Association  and 
the  Civic  Federation  would  indicate,  he  is  ever  ready  to  give  his  aid  to  move- 
ments intended  to  advance  the  public  welfare. 

As  an  authority  in  his  special  line,  the  Doctor's  contributions  to  medical 
literature  have  been  well  received.  His  book  on  "Diseases  of  the  Chest, 
Throat  and  Nasal  Cavities"  (William  Wood  &  Co.,  New  York,  1894)  has 
passed  through  its  fourth  edition,  and  is  widely  used  as  a  text-book  in  the 
medical  schools,  and  the  articles  from  his  pen  which  have  appeared  from 
time  to  time  in  the  various  medical  periodicals  are  numerous  and  valuable. 

In  1876  Dr.  Ingals  married  Miss  Lucy  S.  Ingals,  a  native  of  Chicago, 
and  daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Melissa  R.  Ingals,  of  that  city.  They  have 
four  children,  Francis  Ephraim,  Melissa  Rachel,  Mary  Goodell  and  E. 
Fletcher,  Jr.  Mrs.  Ingals  is  also  a  descendant  in  the  eighth  generation  from 
Edmund  Ingalls,  mentioned  at  the  opening  of  this  article.  The  family 
attends  the  Baptist  Church.  In  political  sentiment  the  Doctor  has  been  a 
lifelong  Republican,  and  he  supports  the  candidates  of  that  party  whenever 
he  believes  them  honest  and  well  qualified. 


no  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

MARIE  J.  MERGLER,  M.  D. 

Few  women  in  professional  life  attained  the  success  and  high  standard 
so  deservedly  won  by  Dr.  Marie  J.  Mergler. 

The  Doctor  was  born  in  Mainstockheim,  Germany,  but  was  brought  to 
America  by  her  parents  while  still  a  little  child.  Through  inheritance  and 
training  she  possessed  qualifications  which  fitted  her  in  a  marked  degree  for 
the  work  she  undertook.  Her  father,  naturally  a  student,  was  thorough, 
careful  and  conscientious  in  all  that  pertained  to  his  profession — that  of  a 
teacher — a  man  of  gentleness  and  strength,  who  firmly  believed  in  the  liberal 
education  of  women.  Her  mother,  at  an  advanced  age,  possesses  a 
most  analytic  mind. 

Dr.  Mergler  received  her  early  education  from  her  parents  and  in  public 
schools.  She  was  a  graduate  of  the  Cook  County  Normal  School,  and  of  the 
classical  cour.se  in  a  Normal  School  at  Oswego,  New  York.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen  she  was  first  assistant  in  one  of  our  high  schools.  Her  medical 
studies  were  pursued  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Chicago,  and  in  the 
Universities  of  Zurich  and  Berlin.  She  first  took  up  the  study  of  medicine 
in  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Chicago,  now  the  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity Woman's  Medical  School,  from  which  she  was  graduated  in  1879, 
being  the  valedictorian  of  her  class.  In  the  same  year  she  passed  the  com- 
petitive examination  for,  physician  in  the  Cook  County  Insane  Asylum,  this 
being  the  first  year  in  which  women  were  admitted  to  the  examination,  and 
received  the  second  appointment  of  house  physician  in  that  institution.  She, 
however,  went  abroad  that  year  to  take  a  post-graduate  course  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Zurich,  Switzerland,  and  upon  her  return  took  up  general  practice  and 
became  assistant  professor  of  Gynecology  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College 
of  Chicago  (now  the  Northwestern  University  Woman's  Medical  School)  to 
the  late  William  H.  Byford ;  the  full  professorship  being  assigned  to  her  upon 
his  death.  For  many  years  she  was  Secretary  of  the  Faculty,  and  in  1899  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  University  appointed  her  to  the  office  of  Dean. 

Her  influence  in  furthering  the  advancement  of  the  medical  education 
of  women  was,  perhaps,  the  most  characteristic  feature  of  her  career.  Be- 
lieving that  the  medical  profession  is  incomplete  and  fails  in  the  highest  ful- 
filment of  its  service  to  the  community  so  long  as  it  excludes  efficient  women 
from  its  ranks,  she  was  always  a  strong  advocate  of  the  medical  education 
of  women.  As  soon  as  she  graduated,  she  was  made  a  member  of  the  Faculty 
of  her  Alma  Mater,  and  until  her  death  was  identified  with  that  school. 
Through  it  she  was  the  means  of  promoting  the  interests  of  women  students 
by  securing  for  them  many  hospital  appointments.  She  always  stood  for  a 
high  standard.  This  influence,  together  with  the  success  she  met  in  practice, 
made  her  one  of  the  representative  women  physicians  in  America. 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  in 

Dr.  Mergler  filled  with  honor  to  her  sex  and  her  profession  the  follow- 
ing positions :  Professor  of  Gynecology  and  Clinical  Gynecology,  North- 
western University  Woman's  Medical  College;  Attending  Surgeon  Woman's 
Hospital ;  Gynecologist  in  Lincoln  Street  Dispensary ;  Professor  of  Gyne- 
cology in  Post-graduate  Medical  School;  Head  Physician  and  Surgeon 
Mary  Thompson  Hospital;  Attending  Physician  to  Cook  County  Hospital 
in  1882;  and  Gynecologist  to  Wesley  Hospital.  She  was  a  member  of  the 
Illinois  State  Medical,  Chicago  Medical  and  Chicago  Pathological  Societies 
and  the  American  Medical  Association. 

As  a  teacher,  although  she  shrank  from  all  that  is  spectacular,  she  held 
the  undivided  attention  of  the  class,  keeping  fully  abreast  with  the  advance 
made  in  science,  and  adopting  objective  methods  of  teaching  only  as  far  as 
consistent  with  the  best  interests  of  the  patient.  Inspiring  the  student  with 
a  love  for  excellence  and  skill,  she  laid  great  stress  upon  the  moral  responsi- 
bility assumed  by  the  profession.  She  was  a  strong  advocate  of  conservative 
measures,  providing  they  were  safe,  teaching  her  classes  that  "Surgery 
should  be  constructive  rather  than  destructive."  In  conversation  she  was 
often  heard  to  say,  "It  is  character  and  judgment  as  well  as  skill  and  scien- 
tific training  that  go  to  make  up  the  ideal  physician."  It  is  doubtful  if  her 
ability  as  a  medical  teacher  was  excelled,  and  none  can  testify  to  this  so  fully 
as  those  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  be  her  pupils. 

Dr.  Mergler  made  valuable  contributions  to  medical  literature,  among 
them  being  the  following:  "Progress  in  Gynecology,"  Illinois  State  Medical 
Society  Transactions,  1886;  "Etiology  and  Treatment  of  Salpingitis," 
Illinois  State  Medical  Society  Transactions,  1888;  "A  Guide  to  the  Study  of 
Gynecology,"  1892;  "What  are  the  Indications  for  the  Removal  of  Uterine 
Appendages?"  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter,  July,  1893;  "The  Diagnosis 
and  Treatment  of  Complications  of  Typhoid  Fever  in  Diseases  of  the  Female 
Generative  Organs,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  1895;  "Report  of  Cases  of 
Abdominal  Sections  for  (a)  Tubal  Abortion,  (b)  Fibroid  of  the  Uterus,  (c) 
Puerperal  Infection,  (d)  Myxoma  of  the  Peritoneum,  (e) Ovarian  Abscesses," 
Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  1896,  p.  425;  "Exhibitions  of  Specimens:  (a) 
Subserous  Fibroid,  (b)  Pus  Tubes,  (c)  Adeno  Carcinoma  of  the  Ovaries," 
Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  December,  1896,  p.  425;  "Plastic  Operation  for 
Incontinence  of  Urine."  Miscellaneous  papers :  "Preparations  of  Micro- 
scopical Specimens  and  Camera  Lucida  Drawings,  Illustrating  a  paper  on 
Tubercular  Meningitis,  by  Prof.  Charles  W.  Earle,"  Chicago  Journal  and 
Examiner,  Vol.  XXXIX,  1879;  "Preparation  and  Description  of  Specimens  of 
Cirrhosis  of  the  Pancreas,"  by  Prof.  Charles  W.  Earle,  whom  she  also 
assisted  in  preparing  the  chapter  on  "Diseases  of  the  New  Born,"  American 
Text  Book  of  Obstetrics;  "Report  of  Two  Cases  of  Extensive  Skingrafting," 


H2  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

1898;  "Choice^  of  Operation  in  Contracted  Pelvis,  with  Report  of  a  Case 
of  Porro's  Operation,"  1900.  The  following  are  the  titles  of  some  of  her 
miscellaneous  writings:  "History  of  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of 
Chicago,"  for  the  report  of  the  Woman's  Congress  of  the  Columbian  Ex- 
position; History  of  the  same  for  the  Medical  and  Dental  Colleges  of  the 
West,  1896. 

Those  who  were  the  recipients  of  her  generosity  know  the  great  phil- 
anthropic work  she  did  among  the  deserving  needy.  The  Doctor  won  the 
confidence  of  her  patients,  as  well  as  her  colleagues,  chiefly  through  her  ability 
in  making  a  careful  diagnosis.  While  the  family  doctor  was  to  her  the  ideal 
physician,  she  drifted,  through  her  early  association  with  the  late  Dr.  Will- 
iam H.  Byford,  into  the  practice  of  Gynecology  and  Surgery.  She  was  con- 
sidered a  safe  as  well  as  a  skillful  surgeon,  performing  with  unusual  success 
the  most  serious  operations.  With  the  Doctor's  high  ideals  of  a  physician's 
moral  responsibility,  with  her  intellectual  attainments,  her  industry  and 
loyalty  to  duty,  it  is  not  surprising  that  she  attained  so  high  a  standard  of 
excellence  in  her  work.  While  no  doubt  there  still  exists  some  of  the  old 
prejudice  regarding  the  practice  of  medicine  by  women,  it  is  gratifying  to 
note  the  candor,  justice  and  impartiality,  with  which  the  leading  men  of  the 
profession  have  spoken  of  Dr.  Mergler.  It  seems  fitting  that  this  article 
should  close  with  the  opinions  of  those  colleagues  who  had  an  opportunity 
to  know  her  work.  The  following,  written  a  short  time  previous  to  her 
death,  are  therefore  quoted : 

"I  have  known  Dr.  Mergler  ever  since  she  was  a  student  and  I  have 
known  something  of  her  growth  in  popular  esteem.  She  is  one  of  the  busiest 
practitioners  in  Chicago,  and  deservedly  so,  and  so  far  as  I  know  the  fore- 
most physician  of  her  sex  in  the  world." — William  E.  Quine,  M.  D. 

"Dr.  Mergler  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  female  physicians  in  this 
city.     She  has  won  her  position  by  hard  work  and  devotion  to  the  study  of 
her    profession.      She    is    an    able    physician    and    successful    teacher."- 
N.  Senn,  M.  D. 

"Dr.  Mergler  is  justly  regarded  as  a  person  of  more  than  ordinary 
intellectual  activity  and  professional  attainments,  and  sustains  a  good  reputa- 
tion, both  as  a  teacher  and  practitioner  of  medicine." — N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  M.D. 

"I  am  glad  to  state  that  I  consider  Dr.  Marie  J.  Mergler  the  foremost 
and  most  progressive  surgeon  of  her  sex  in  the  West.  By  means  of  her  own 
efforts,  she  has  risen  from  the  ranks  to  the  leadership,  and  now  the  highest 
honors  are  hers.  She  is  one  of  those  women,  whose  sex  and  early  education 
have  not  interfered  with  her  practical  work.  Her  surgery,  while  not  lack- 
ing in  the  delicate  touches  that  are  inseparable  from  a  true  woman's  hand, 
possesses  the  calm  vigor  and  sureness  that  characterize  that  of  the  master 
of  the  sterner  sex." — Henry  T.  Byford,  M.  D. 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  113 

''Dr.  Mergler  deserves  great  credit  for  many  years  of  earnest  work  de- 
voted to  the  advancement  of  the  higher  education  of  woman.  The  women 
in  the  medical  profession  owe  her  a  debt  of  gratitude,  which  they  can  never 
repay,  for  her  unceasing  efforts  in  their  behalf." — Christian  Fenger,  M.  D. 

Just  a  short  time  after  her  death,  Dr.  Frank  Billings  wrote :  "It  was 
my  good  fortune  to  know  Dr.  Mergler  during  nearly  all  her  medical  career. 
I  first  met  her  when  she  was  an  attending  physician  at  Cook  County  Hospital, 
and  the  pleasant  acquaintance  which  was  then  formed  continued  until  her 
death.  Dr.  Mergler  was,  in  my  estimation,  the  best  informed,  the  most 
rational  and  the  broadest-minded  medical  and  surgical  practitioner  among  all 
of  the  women  I  have  ever  known  who  have  devoted  their  lives  to  medicine. 
She  was  a  thorough  and  energetic  student,  and  was  always  fully  abreast  with 
all  of  the  advancement  in  medicine  and  surgery.  She  enjoyed  the  distinction 
of  being  a  skillful,  cool  and  rapid  operator  in  her  chosen  field  of  surgery. 
I  did  not  know  Dr.  Mergler  as  a  teacher,  but  the  position  which  she  occupied 
in  the  Woman's  Medical  School,  and  the  fact  that  she  was  at  the  time  of  her 
death  the  Dean  of  the  Faculty,  is  a  proof  that  she  excelled  in  college  work 
as  she  did  in  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery." 

Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot  writes : 

' '  The  reason  firm,  the  temperate  will, 
Endurance,  foresight,  strength  and  skill, 
A  perfect  woman,  nobly  planned, 
To  warn,  to  comfort  and  command. 

"Wordsworth  here  epitomizes  the  career  of  Dr.  Marie  J.  Mergler,  who 
in  1880,  started  upon  the  professional  life  which  she  so  much  adorned.  Few 
physicians  were  as  thoroughly  permeated  with  the  high  ideals  of  the  pro- 
fession as  Dr.  Mergler.  She  had  in  a  large  degree  the  philanthropic  trend, 
the  judicial  temper  and  the  just  discrimination  which  marks  the  highest  type 
of  the  physician.  In  no  respect  a  doctrinaire  as  to  the  position  of  woman  in 
the  professions,  she  did  much  to  destroy  prejudice  arising  from  the  faddish 
attitude  of  many  medical  women.  She"  has  left  but  few  peers  in  the  pro- 
fession." 

Dr.  Mergler  died  in  California  May  17,  1901.  To  the  last  her  devotion 
to  her  profession  was  unabated,  and  when  her  will  was  read,  it  was  found 
she  had  left  legacies  of  $3,000,  each,  to  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  to  the 
Northwestern  University  Woman's  Hospital.  Contact  with  the  world  and 
professional  life  never  detracted  from  those  gentle  but  strong  womanly  char- 
acteristics which  endeared  Dr.  Mergler  to  her  patients  and  friends.  She  al- 
ways had  a  strong  appreciation  of  the  beautiful,  and  was  a  lover  of  nature, 
art  and  music.  By  temperament  she  was  social.  Her  love  of  home  and  the 
possibility  it  afforded  for  rest  and  the  entertainment  of  friends  probably 
brought  her  greater  happiness  than  all  other  relations. 

8 


1 14  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

BYRON    ROBINSON,  B.  S.,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Byron  Robinson  prides  himself  on  being  country  born  and  bred. 
His  father  and  mother,  William  and  Mary  Robinson,  came  to  this  country 
from  England  in  1845,  and  located  on  a  farm  in  central  Wisconsin,  near 
Hollandale,  where  they  lived  together  for  over  fifty  years.  Here  his  father 
died,  while  his  mother  resides  on  the  old  homestead. 

Dr.  Robinson's  early  life  was  spent  on  the  farm  and  his  education  was 
commenced  in  the  classic  log  school  house.  He  afterward  worked  his  way 
through  the  Mineral  Point  Seminary,  and  later  through  the  Wisconsin  Uni- 
versity, where  he  was  graduated  in  1878  with  the  degree  of  B.  S.  He  was 
assistant  to  the  Professor  of  Chemistry,  during  his  Senior  year  at  the  Uni- 
versity, and  while  principal  of  a  high  school,  the  two  years  following  grad- 
uation, studied  Medicine  with  Dr.  U.  P.  Stair.  He  then  entered  Rush 
Medical  College,  completed  the  course  in  1882,  and  located  in  Grand  Rapids, 
Wisconsin,  where  he  entered  on  the  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1884  Dr. 
Robinson  left  his  practice  and  spent  two  years  in  Europe,  studying  Surgery 
and  Gynecology  in  Heidelberg,  Berlin  and  London.  In  1887  he  again  went 
abroad,  this  time  spending  an  entire  year  in  Vienna  in  the  study  of  his  chosen 
specialty,  Gynecology.  In  1889  he  was  appointed  to  the  Chair  of  Anatomy 
and  Clinical  Surgery  in  Toledo  Medical  College,  which  he  occupied  for  two 
years,  gaining  the  reputation  of  a  capable  and  clear  clinical  teacher.  In  1890 
he  crossed  the  ocean  again,  and  spent  six  months  with  Mr.  Lawson  Tait,  of 
Birmingham,  England.  In  1891  he  came  to  Chicago  and  was  elected  to  the 
Professorship  of  Gynecology  in  the  Post-Graduate  Medical  School.  In  1894 
he  was  married  to  Dr.  Lucy  Waite,  of  Chicago. 

In  1887  Dr.  Robinson  began  a  series  of  original  investigations  in  In- 
testinal Surgery.  He  made  over  two  hundred  experiments,  on  the  intestines 
of  dogs,  and  as  a  result  devised  for  intestinal  anastomosis  the  cartilage  and 
rawhide  and  the  segmented  rubber  plate,  and  the  rawhide  anastomosis  but- 
ton, which  can  be  employed  without  sutures.  He  originated  the  "stove-pipe" 
operation  to  displace  circular  enterorrhaphy,  and  invagination  for  circular 
enterorrhaphy  without  sutures ;  also  two  methods  of  prohibiting  intestinal 
invagination  subsequent  to  operation,  one  the  rubber  tube,  and  the  other, 
which  is  of  more  value,  the  suturing  of  the  distal  intestinal  end  of  the  proximal 
bowel  mesentery. 

Dr.  Robinson  has  been  for  years  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  leading 
medical  journals.  He  is  the  author  of  "Intestinal  Surgery,"  "Automatic 
Menstrual  Ganglia,"  "Urachial  Cysts,"  "The  Abdominal  Brain  and  Auto- 
matic Visceral  Ganglia,"  "Landmarks  in  Gynecology"  and  the  "Peritoneum," 
which  appeared  in  1897.  He  has  published  a  colored  life-sized  chart  of  the 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  115 

sympathetic  nerve,  drawn  from  nature.  He  is  the  originator  of  the  "Utero- 
Ovarian  Vascular  Circle,"  frequently  called  "The  Circle  of  Byron  Robinson," 
and  the  view  that  in  the  condition  of  visceral  ptosis  gastro-duodenal  dilatation 
is  due  to  the  compression  of  the  superior  mesenteron  artery,  vein  and  nerve 
on  the  transverse  segment  of  the  duodenum.  He  published  a  monograph  on 
the  Arteria  Uterina  Ovariea  in  1903.  He  published  a  took  on  "Colpo- 
Perineorrhaphy,"  in  1898.  He  has  published  a  wall  chart,  entitled  "Byron 
Robinson's  Landmarks  in  Gynecology,  in  the  Tractus  Intestinalis  and  in  the 
Peritoneum,"  with  colored  drawings  valuable  and  suggestive  alike  to  in- 
structors and  students.  Dr.  Robinson  is  Attending  Gynecologist  to  the 
Woman's  Hospital,  Consulting  Surgeon  of  the  Mary  Thompson  Hospital, 
and  Surgeon  to  the  Frances  Willard  Hospital.  He  is  Professor  of  Gyne- 
cology and  Abdominal  Surgery  in  the  Illinois  Medical  College.  He  has  for 
years  conducted  a  Post-Graduate  School  of  Gynecology  and  Abdominal 
Surgery. 

Dr.  Robinson  is  pre-eminently  an  investigator,  a  close  student,  and  is 
unknown  to  the  social  clubs  of  the  city.  When  not  actually  engaged  in  his 
practice  he  is  to  be  found  at  his  desk  or  in  his  den,  where  are  to  be  found  all 
the  necessary  aids  and  instruments  for  the  dissections  and  experiments  which 
have  formed  the  basis  for  all  his  writing.  Here  he  takes  his  recreation  and 
finds  his  pleasure  in  his  work.  In  preparing  the  first  volume  on  the  "Per- 
itoneum," he  dissected  the  peritoneum  and  viscera  of  one  hundred  different 
species  of  fish.  He  is  now  engaged  in  the  dissection  of  the  peritoneum  of 
amphibious  birds  and  mammals  for  the  second  volume  of  that  great  work, 
which  is  to  be  descriptive  and  comparative.  He  has  now  almost  completed 
a  monograph  on  the  ureter.  Some  have  doubted  that  all  this 
work  could  be  done  personally  and  practically  by  one  engaged  in  such  a  large 
surgical  practice  as  Dr.  Robinson  is  known  to  have,  not  being  able  to  realize 
the  enormous  amount  of  work  that  can  be  done  by  one  man  in  perfect  health, 
who  does  not  frequent  clubs,  nor  waste  one  hour  of  the  twenty-four  in  any 
.kind  of  dissipation.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  Dr.  Robinson  has  the 
reputation  in  the  profession  of  being  one  of  its  most  conscientious  and 
arduous  'workers.  His  reputation  as  a  writer  is  not  confined  to  this  country, 
his  articles  having  been  published  in  the  Journal  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology 
of  Edinburgh,  and  copied  in  many  British,  French  and  German  journals. 
He  has  contributed  his  full  share  to  the  development  of  Gynecology  and 
Abdominal  Surgery  in  America.  He  was  the  first  to  announce  (1894)  that 
appendicitis  was  due  to  trauma  of  the  psoas  muscles,  and  is  one  of  the  skillful 
operators  for  that  disease  in  the  country  to-day.  He  was  among  the  first  to 
announce  (1892)  to  the  medical  world  that  Gonorrhea  is  a  cause  of  rectal 
strictures  and  vesiculitis  seminales.  Dr.  Robinson  is  a  born  teacher,  as  his 


u6  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

many  students,  scattered  all  over  the  United  States,  can  testify.  His  forceful 
manner  in  demonstration,  whether  it  be  a  dissection  or  a  surgical  operation  on 
the  living  subject,  impresses  the  student  and  becomes  a  mental  picture  not 
easily  erased. 

His  extensive  researches  on  the  sympathetic  nerve,  chiefly  embodied  in 
his  book  entitled  "Abdominal  Brain  and  Automatic  Visceral  Ganglia,"  have 
been -repeatedly  announced  by  the  foremost  authorities  as  not  only  of  merit 
and  value,  but  as  epoch-making.  When  "Robinson's  Landmarks  in  Gyne- 
cology"  appeared,  Mr.  Lawson  Tait,  the  greatest  surgical  genius  of  his  age, 
said :  "The  classification  of  the  subject  is  very  original."  Of  Byron  Robin- 
son's most  extensive  work,  "The  Peritoneum,"  Prof.  Howard  Kelley  said: 
"It  looks  like  one  of  the  best  pieces  of  scientific  work  that  has  come  out  of 
this  country."  Prof.  Henry  Lyman  says  of  him :  "Dr.  Byron  Robinson  is  a 
man  of  ability  in  original  research.  He  is  remarkable  for  industry  in  a  depart- 
ment that  is  not  ordinarily  cultivated  by  practicing  physicians."  Mr.  Lawson 
Tait,  in  1891,  remarked  in  an  introduction  to  the  late  Prof.  A.  Reeves  Jackson, 
of  Chicago :  "Dr.  Byron  Robinson  has  been  a  pupil  of  mine  six  months. 
His  name  is  already  well  known  on  your  side,  as  on  this  side,  of  the  Atlantic, 
by  his  researches  in  abdominal  surgery,  and  I  am  sure,  from  my  experience 
of  him,  he  is  a  man  who  will  make  his  mark  in  our  department." 

In  connection,  moreover,  may  be  quoted  the  words  of  those  eminent 
surgeons,  Drs.  Nicholas  Senn  and  Christian  Fenger,  than  whom  none  are 
better  qualified  to  form  an  enlightened  and  unbiased  estimate  of  the  true  value 
of  the  life  work  and  researches  of  their  brethren  of  the  profession.  Dr. 
Senn,  writing  of  Dr.  Byron  Robinson,  makes  use  of  these  words :  "He  is 
one  of  the  most  hard-working  men  in  the  profession.  His  work  on  the 
'Histology  and  Surgery  of  the  Peritoneum'  is  epoch  making.  His  experi- 
mental investigations  have  become  a  part  of  American  medical  literature. 
Work  is  his  recreation."  Dr.  Fenger  added  this  tribute  of  unstinted  praise: 
"Dr.  Byron  Robinson  reminds  one  of  the  plodding,  hard-working  European 
scientist,  who  subordinates  everything,  social  and  material,  to  his  work.  His 
researches  on  the  'Peritoneum'  and  the  sympathetic  nervous  system  have 
made  his  work  known  wherever  earnest  work  is  honored.  His  treatise  on 
the  'Peritoneum'  is  unique  of  its  kind  and  is  a  classic.  His  results  are  based 
upon  thousands  of  personal  investigations  on  the  human  subject  and  on  ani- 
mals, as  well  as  upon  a  careful  perusal  of  voluminous  literature  of  the 
subject.  His  'Bibliography  of  the  Peritoneum'  occupies  more  than  one  hun- 
dred pages  of  the  work  and  is  here  for  the  first  time  compiled." 

Dr.  William  J.  Gillette,  Professor  of  Abdominal  and  Clinical  Surgery 
in  the  Toledo  Medical  College,  in  an  address  on  the  growth  of  Medicine  and 
Medical  Institutions  in  Toledo,  said :  "As  yet,  however,  Toledo  has  not 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  117 

• 

produced  a  great  commanding  medical  genius,  though  there  have  lived  and 
worked  here  two  men  of  genius — I  refer  to  Dr.  J.  H.  Pooley  and  Dr.  Byron 
Robinson,  now  of  Chicago.  These  men,  without  doubt,  were  the  strongest 
medical  men  who  ever  resided  within  the  borders  of  the  city.  They  were 
not  fully  appreciated  when  with  us,  but,  after  all,  this  is  the  fate  accorded 
always  to  men  of  their  stamp.  The  time  is  sure  to  come  when  most  of  us 
will  be  forgotten ;  not  so,  however,  with  these  two.  It  will  come  to  pass  that 
the  profession  here  will  consider  it  one  of  its  greatest  honors  that  they  once 
lived  and  labored  with  us.  Dr.  Byron  Robinson  started  'Experimental  Medi- 
cine' in  Toledo,  from  which  many  lives  have  been  saved." 


JOHN   M.  RAUCH,  M.  D. 

Dr.  John  M.  Ranch,  M.  D.,  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Pennsylvania,  Sep- 
tember 4,  1828,  a  son  of  Bernard  Ranch,  a  Pennsylvanian  of  German  origin, 
and  Jane  (Brown)  Ranch,  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  of  Scotch-Irish  extraction. 
His  earlier  education  was  acquired  in  the  academy  of  his  native  town.  Se- 
lecting the  medical  profession,  in  1846,  he  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  John  W. 
Gloninger,  a  prominent  successful  practitioner  of  Lebanon.  Matriculating 
at  the  Pennsylvania  University  in  1847,  he  graduated  from  that  institution 
in  the  spring  of  1849,  anc^  m  the  following  year  he  located  in  Burlington, 
Iowa,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

During  the  year  the  Iowa  State  Medical  Society  was  organized,  and, 
becoming  one  of  its  members,  he  was  appointed  by  the  body  to  report  "On 
the  Medical  and  Economical  Botany  of  the  State,"  and  his  report  was  pre- 
sented at  the  next  annual  meeting.  He  was  the  first  delegate  from  the  Iowa 
State  Medical  Society  to  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  in  1852 
attended  the  meeting  of  that  body,  at  Richmond,  Virginia.  During  the  years 
1850  and  1851  his  attention  was  directed  to  the  relation  of  ozone  to  diseases, 
and  he  bestowed  upon  that  matter  a  careful  and  thorough  investigation. 

About  this  period,  and  during  the  prevalence  of  cholera,  Dr.  Rauch 
called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  necessity  of  providing  medical  aid  for 
those  engaged  in  maritime  pursuits  on  the  western  waters,  and  succeeded 
in  having  established,  at  Galena  and  Burlington,  sites  upon  which  subse- 
quently were  erected  marine  hospitals.  He  was  appointed  one  of  the  com- 
missioners to  select  the  sites.  The  buildings  eventually  constructed  were 
thrown  open  for  use  in  1858. 

In  1852  Dr.  Rauch  delivered  the  annual  address  before  the  State  Horti- 
cultural Society  of  Iowa,  and,  during  his  residence  in  that  State,  was  an 


u8  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

active  member  of  the  Iowa  Historical  and  Geological  Institute.  In  1854  he 
became  Deputy  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons  of  Iowa,  and 
delivered  the  annual  address  before  the  Grand  Lodge.  During  1855  and 
1856  he  devoted  some  time  to  assisting  Professor  Agassiz  in  the  collection 
of  material  for  his  work,  the  "Natural  History  of  the  United  States,"  and 
secured  a  valuable  collection  from  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers, 
particularly  piscatorial.  A  description  of  this  fine  collection  was  published 
in  Silliman's  "Journal  of  Natural  Sciences."  A  portion  of  the  two  above 
named  years  he  spent  in  Cambridge  with  Professor  Agassiz. 

During  his  residence  in  Iowa,  he  was  always  active  in  advancing  edu- 
cational and  scientific  interests,  and  with  others,  in  1856,  was  instrumental 
in  securing  'the  passage  through  the  Legislature  of  a  bill  authorizing  a 
geological  survey  of  the  State.  In  1857  he  was  elected  to  fill  a  Chair  of 
Materia  Medica  in  the  Rush  Medical  College  of  Chicago;  this  professorship 
he  filled  for  three  years,  still  continuing  his  residence  in  Iowa,  and  in  1858, 
he  was  elected  President  of  the  Iowa  State  Medical  Society.  -In  1851,  during 
his  residence  in  Burlington,  his  attention  had  been  called  to  the  increase  of  the 
disease  cholera,  following  the  burial  of  a  number  of  its  victims,  in  the  United 
States  Cemetery  located  there.  With  others  he  became  instrumental,  also, 
in  securing  the  abandonment  by  government  of  the  ground  for  burial  pur- 
poses, and  the  donation  of  it  to  the  Burlington  University  for  educational 
purposes.  In  1859  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  Chicago  College  of 
Pharmacy,  and  was  selected  as  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Medical 
Botany  in  that  institution. 

In  1-86 1,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  Dr.  Ranch  entered  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  Army,  under  General  Hunter,  and  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Bull  Run.  Shortly  after  this  engagement  he  was  appointed  Brigade 
Surgeon  and  assigned  to  McDowell's  Division,  General  Keyes's  Brigade, 
then  stationed  at  Arlington.  He  was  subsequently  with  General  Augur's  com- 
mand, and  took  part  in  the  capture  of  Falmouth  and  Fredericksburg.  In 
July,  1862,  he  was  transferred  with  General  Augur  to  Banks's  Corps,  acted 
as  Medical  Director  at  Cedar  Mountain  and  Culpeper  Covirt  House,  and  as- 
sumed direction  of  the  removal  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  Through  this 
campaign  he  participated  in  all  of  the  various  engagements,  acting  as  As- 
sistant Medical  Director  of  the  Army  of  Virginia.  He  was  also  with  Gen- 
eral Pope  through  his  campaign,  and  there  rendered  valuable  service,  saving, 
by  his  exertions,  during  the  disastrous  retreat,  the  medical  stores  of  the 
Army,  as  well  as  many  of  the  sick  and  wounded.  At  the  battle  of  Antietam 
he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  sick  and  wounded  of  both  forces,  superintend- 
ing the  exchange  and  paroling  of  disabled  soldiers.  He  accompanied  Banks's 
New  Orleans  expedition,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  at  Baton  Rouge,  as 


.fill  VI 

ur  rn  i 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  119 

special  Medical  Inspector  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  He  participated 
in  the  capture  of  Port  Hudson,  acting  as  Medical  Director  during  that  siege, 
after  which  he  accompanied  General  Franklin  on  the  Sabine  Pass  expedition, 
moving  with  him  afterward  up  the  Teche.  In  1864  he  was  relieved  from 
active  service  in  the  field,  and  appointed  Medical  Director  at  Detroit,  whence 
he  was  transferred  to  the  Madison  General  Hospital,  and  there  mustered 
out  of  service  in  1865.  For  services  performed  during  the  war,  he  was 
brevetted  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

On  his  return  to  Chicago,  at  the  request  of  a  number  of  the  leading 
citizens,  Dr.  Rauch  published  his  views  on  the  burial  of  dead  in  cities.  This 
subject,  i.  e.,  "Intramural  Interments  and  their  Influence  on  Health  and 
Epidemics,"  had  been  also  by  request,  discussed  by  him  before  the  Historical 
Society  of  Chicago,  in  1858,  and  on  his  return,  his  attention  being  called 
to  sanitary  measures  necessary  in  the  city,  and  his  essay  bearing  importantly 
on  the  point,  he  consented  to  publish  it.  In  1867,  with  others,  he  was  in- 
strumental in  having  the  Board  of  Health  organized  in  Chicago.  Its  mem- 
bers were  appointed  by  the  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  the  city,  and  he 
was  one  of  the  appointees.  Here  he  served  until  1873,  and,  dur- 
ing that  time,  presented  many  valuable  reports  on  sanitary  measures,  viz. 
In  1868,  a  report  on  Drainage;  in  1869,  a  report  on  the  Chicago  River  and 
the  Public  Parks;  in  1870,  a  Sanitary  History  of  Chicago  with  the  official 
report  of  the  Board  of  Health,  from  1867  to  1870. 

In  the  fall  of  1870  Dr.  Rauch  visited  the  mining  districts  of  South 
America,  in  order  to  ascertain  what  prospects  existed  of  improving  the  sani- 
tary condition  of  the  miners  in  the  gold  regions  of  Venezuela.  During  his 
sojourn  in  that  country,  he  made  a  large  and  valuable  collection  of  natural 
objects  for  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  of  which  he  had  been 
for  many  years  an  active  and  valued  member.  During  the  fire  of  1871,  his 
report  entitled  "Report  for  the  Board  of  Health,"  also  a  "Synopsis  of  the 
Flora  of  the  North  West,"  his  herbarium,  his  "South  American  Notes,"  and 
many  other  valuable  papers  on  sanitary  measures,  were  destroyed. 

At  this  time  he  became  connected  with  the  Relief  and  Aid  Society  of 
Chicago,  and  rendered  valuable  service  as  one  of  its  associates  and  agents. 
He  had  been  actively  engaged  in  the  Board  of  Health  and  in  all  sanitary 
improvements,  in  Chicago,  during  the  past  six  years,  and  up  to  the  fall  oi 
1873.  He  had  also  been  a  prominent  member  and  acted  as  treasurer  after 
the  organization,  in  1872,  of  the  American  Public  Health  Association.  In 
1872  he  prepared  a  paper  on  "Slaughtering,"  and  by  request,  gave  an 
opinion  concerning  the  Schuylkill  Doorvard  Abattoir.  He  gave,  in  fact, 
so  much  attention  to  sanitary  measures  in  various  forms,  that  he  was  con- 
ceded authority  on  all  pertinent  points,  his  views  always  commanding  the 


•MU.sl 

1 1, I' 


120  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

attention  and  respect  of  those  best  qualified  to  act  as  judges.  In  1868  he 
published  a  report  on  the  "Texas  Cattle  Disease.".  He  was  one  of  the 
Agassiz  Memorial  Committee,  a  member  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science,  and  had  also  been  appointed  one  of  the  Sanitary 
Committee  for  the  Interior  Department  of  the  United  States  for  the  Cen- 
tennial Exposition.  On  account  of  failure  of  health  he  retired  to  his  native 
place  in  Lebanon,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  died  March  24,  1894.  He  was 
never  married. 


ISAAC  N.  DANFORTH,  M.  D. 

While  the  rugged  clime  and  sterile  soil  of  New  England  yield  but 
scant  returns  to  the  agriculturist,  that  tight,  close  section  of  the  country, 
which  was  first  explored  by  the  Puritans  and  Quakers,  has  furnished  to  the 
land  at  large  countless  sons  who  have  hewn  out  their  own  paths  to  eminence 
and  inscribed  their  names  upon  the  imperishable  roll  of  fame.  New  England 
theology  and  patriotism,  like  Yankee  grit  and  perseverance,  have  spread  over 
the  country,  from  the  Kennebec  to  the  Golden  Gate.  In  the  Central  West 
they  have  left  a  deep  and  abiding  impress,  promoting  and  fostering  its  de- 
velopment, while  Chicago  owes  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  hills  and 
valleys  of  New  England  not  a  little  of  its  eminence  as  a  scientific  and  educa- 
tional center. 

It  is  from  such  ancestry  that  Dr.  Dan  forth  claims  descent.  He  himself 
was  born  in  Barnard,  Windsor  county,  New  Hampshire,  November  5,  1835. 
Both  his  parents,  Albert  H.  and  Elvira  (Bosworth)  Danforth,  were  members 
of  prominent  families  in  the  Green  Mountain  State.  His  paternal  grand- 
father, Isaac  Danforth,  was  a  pioneer  among  Vermont's  medical  practi- 
tioners ;  and  his  grandmother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Persis  Baker,  was  a 
daughter  of  Gen.  Joseph  Baker,  of  Westbury,  Massachusetts,  one  of  the 
heroes  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  The  Danforth  family  is  of  Danish- 
English  origin,  and  it  traces  its  ancestry  back  to  1536,  its  first  American 
progenitor,  a  Puritan,  having  crossed  the  water,  from  Framingham,  Suffolk, 
England,  in  1634,  to  make  his  home  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  in 
whose  history  the  family  played  a  prominent  part  for  many  years. 

Dr.  Isaac  Danforth,  grandfather  of  Dr.  Isaac  N.,  settled  in  Barnard  as 
early  as  1785;  two  of  his  brothers  settled  in  northern  Vermont,  all  in  their 
day  and  generation  members  of  the  medical  profession. 

Dr.  Isaac  N.  Danforth,  himself,  received  his  early  professional  educa- 
tion in  the  Medical  School  of  Dartmouth  College.  He  showed  himself  a 
close  student,  devoted  to  research,  and  apt  in  acquiring  and  applying  knowl- 


LIBRARY 

UNWtKSITY  OF  ILLIMCIS 
URBANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  121 

edge.  In  1861  he  was  appointed  Interne  in  the  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  at 
Hartford,  Connecticut.  The  position  did  not  prove  congenial  to  his  tastes, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1862  he  resigned  it,  to  enter  upon  general  practice.  In  this 
field  he  has  labored  four  decades  with  marked  success.  Nor  are  the  reasons 
for  his  success  far  to  seek,  when  one  recalls  the  trinity  of  causes  which  have 
ministered  thereto :  ripe  scholarship,  rigid  conscientiousness  and  hard  work. 
His  first  chosen  field  was  Greenfield,  New  Hampshire,  where  he  remained 
until  the  winter  of  1865,  which  he  spent  in  study  in  Philadelphia.  In  August, 
1866,  he  removed  to  Chicago,  and  there  for  more  than  a  third  of  a  century 
he  has  been  engaged  in  practice,  gaining  the  renown  which  comes  only  to  men 
of  talent,  profound  scholarship  and  unwearying  industry.  He  did  not  have 
long  to  wait  before  recognition  came  to  him.  In  1868  he  was  made  In- 
structor in  Chemistry  in  Rush  Medical  College,  and  in  1871  appointed  a 
Lecturer  on  Pathology  in  the  same  institution.  Two  years  later  he  was 
chosen  President  of  the  body  known  as  the  Spring  Faculty,  which  position 
he  occupied  until  the  "Spring"  was  merged  into  the  "General"  Faculty.  In 
1 88 1  he  accepted  the  Chair  of  Pathology  in  Rush,  but  resigned  a  year  later 
to  accept  the  same  seat  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College.  That  post  he  filled 
with  distinguished  success  for  five  years,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the 
Chair  of  Clinical  Medicine,  which  he  filled  until  1895,  when  ill  health,  in- 
duced by  over  work,  coupled  with  nervous  exhaustion,  following  his  wife's 
illness  and  death,  compelled  his  retirement.  Meanwhile,  in  1881,  he  was 
given  the  honorary  degree  of  A.  M.  by  Dartmouth  College.  In  the  year 
1870  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  medical  staff  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital, 
and  this  position  also  he  found  himself  forced  to  resign  in  1895,  but  in  recog- 
nition of  the  value  of  his  long  and  faithful  service,  extending  an  entire  quar- 
ter of  a  century,  he  was  at  once  named  Honorary  Physician  of  the  institution, 
a  distinction  which  he  still  enjoys.  Other  honors  have  been  heaped  upon  him 
as  well.  From  1873  to  I&93  he  was  Consulting  Physician  of  the  Illinois 
Charitable  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  retiring  from  the  post  because  of  over 
work.  In  1873  he  was  made  Pathologist  to  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  but 
two  years  later  an  upheaval  in  local  politics  resulted  in  the  removal  of  the 
entire  medical  board.  In  1876  he  was  called  to  the  Chair  of  Pathology  and 
Renal  Diseases  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  and  from  1893  to  1899  was 
Dean  of  the  Faculty,  but  in  the  year  last  named  severed  his  connections  with 
the  institution,  feeling  that  after  so  many  years  spent  in  the  lecture  and  class 
room  he  had  earned  a  right  to  rest  from  further  labor  as  an  instructor.  To 
Dr.  Danforth's  individual  influence  is  due  the  prosperity  of  Wesley  Hospital. 
Not  only  has  he  interested  others  in  promoting  its  success,  but  he  has  him- 
self contributed  liberally  to  its  support,  besides  serving  as  a  trustee  and 
member  of  the  executive  committee,  as  well  as  of  the  medical  board,  and  being 


122  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

actively  "on  duty"  in  its  wards.  Other  hospitals  with  which  he  is  connected 
are  the  Mary  Thompson  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children  at  Chicago,  the 
Alma  (Michigan)  Sanitarium,  and  the  Silver  Cross  Hospital,  of  Joliet, 
Illinois,  to  which  he  is  Consulting  Physician. 

Among  his  professional  brethren  few  practitioners  are  held  in  higher 
esteem  not  only  on  account  of  his  scientific  attainments  but  also  because  of 
his  unsullied  character  and  blameless  life.  He  is  a  prominent  and  honored 
member  of  many  medical  societies :  the  American  Medical  Association,  the 
Association  of  American  Physicians  (whose  membership  is  limited  to  one 
hundred),  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  the  Chicago  Medical  Society, 
the  Chicago  Pathological  Society  (having  been  formerly  its  president),  the 
Chicago  Society  of  Internal  Medicine,  and  the  West  Side  Therapeutic  Club, 
and  is  now  President  of  the  West  Side  Medical  Society.  He  also  belongs  to 
the  Illinois  Club. 

Dr.  Danforth  writes  with  fluency,  clearness  and  force,  and  his  numerous 
contributions  to  the  literature  of  his  profession  are  highly  prized  by  the 
medical  world.  The  following  is  a  list  of  those  which  have  attracted  the 
widest  attention :  "The  Preparation  and  Preservation  of  Sections  of  Soft 
Tissue,"  The  Lens,  October,  1872;  "The  Cell,"  Id.,  July,  1872;  "Theories 
of  Cell  Development,"  Id.,  October,  1872;  "Microscopic  Appearances  of 
Cancer  Cells,"  Id.,  January,  1873;  "The  Cell,  the  Nucleus  or  Germinal 
Matter,"  Id.,  April,  1873;  "The  Cell,  the  Protoplasm  of  Formed  Material," 
Id.,  August,  1873;  "The  Diathetic  Cause  of  Renal  Inadequacy,"  Transac- 
tions Association  of  American  Physicians,  May,  1890;  "Tube  Casts  and  Their 
Diagnostic  Value,"  Id.,  1892;  "Notes  on  the  Treatment  of  Pernicious  and 
Other  Forms  of  Essential  Anaemia,"  Id.,  1896;  "Treatment  of  Chronic 
Interstitial  Nephritis,"  Id.,  1898;  "Clinical  Types  of  the  Uric  Acid  Diathesis," 
Id..  1899;  "A  case  of  Chronic  Tubal  Nephritis,"  International  Clinics,  Jan- 
uary, 1892;  "Treatment  of  Phthisis  Pulmonalis,"  Id.,  Vol.  II,  Third  Series, 
1893;  "The  Use  of  Turpentine  in  Typhoid  Fever,"  Id.,  Vol.  Ill,  Third 
Series,  1893;  "Paralysis  Agitans,"  Id.,  Vol.  IV,  Second  Series,  1893;  "Acute 
Tubal  Nephritis,  Chronic  Tubal  Nephritis,  Amyloid  Diseases  of  the  Kidneys, 
Chronic  Interstitial  Nephritis,"  American  Text  Book  of  Diseases  of  Chil- 
dren, 1894;  "Croupous  Pneumonia,  Acute  Catarrhal  Bronchitis,  Bron- 
chiectasis.  Pulmonary  Congestion,  Pulmonary  Hemorrhage,  Pulmonary 
Oedema,"  American  Text  Book  Applied  Therapeutics,  1896;  "Acute 
Capillary  Bronchitis,  In  the  Young  and  in  the  Aged,  Pulmonary  Emphy- 
sema, Chronic  Interstitial  Pneumonia,  Pneumonokoniosis,  Pulmonary  Ab- 
scess, Pulmonary  Gangrene,  Pulmonary  Neoplasms,"  Id.,  1896;  "Catarrhal 
Pyelitis,  Pyonephrosis  and  its  Sequelae,  Cysto-Nephritis,  Suppurative  Nephri- 
tis-. Renal  Calculus,  Hydro-Nephrosis,  Renal  Tumors,"  American  System  of 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  123 

Practical  Medicine,  1897;  "Cystis  Degeneration  of  the  Kidneys,  Renal  Abscess, 
Renal  Parasites,  Acute  Catarrhal  Cystitis,  Acute  Croupous  Cystitis,  Chronic 
Catarrhal  Cystitis,  Vesical  Calculus,  Tumors  of  the  Bladder,  Prostatis,"  Id., 
1897 ;  "Effects  of  Alcohol  upon  the  Fibrous  Tissues  of  the  Body,"  a  lecture  de- 
livered at  Lake  Bluff;  "Four  Cases  of  Surgical  Kidney,"  Chicago  Medical 
Journal  and  Examiner;  "Lecture  Introductory  to  the  Annual  Course  of  In- 
struction in  Northwestern  University  Woman's  College,"  Journal  American 
Medical  Association,  November  20,  1898;  "Valedictory  Address  to  the 
Graduating  Class  of  the  Woman's  College,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and 
Examiner,  July,  1882;  "Effects  of  Alcohol  upon  the  Liver  and  Kidneys."  a 
lecture  before  Preachers'  Meeting,  1895.  He  is  now  at  work  upon  a  text-book 
on  "Diseases  of  the  Kidneys." 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  list,  Dr.  Danforth  has  published  many 
fugitive  articles  in  various  medical  and  secular  journals  and  newspapers  on 
current  medical,  scientific  and  sanitary  topics,  and  has  delivered  many  popu- 
lar or  non-technical  lectures  on  similar  subjects.  Dr.  Danforth  is  known  as 
a  successful  platform  and  after  dinner  speaker. 

In  June,  1869,  Dr.  Danforth  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Skelton,  who  died 
August  I,  1895,  a  woman  of  remarkable  endowments  of  head  and  heart,  to 
whose  support  and  counsel  Dr.  Danforth  attributes  much  of  his  success.  He 
has  established  a  scholarship  in  her  memory  in  Northwestern  University 
Woman's  Medical  School  and  has  contributed  largely  toward  the  Elizabeth 
Skelton  Danforth  Memorial  Hospital  in  Kiukiang,  China.  Two  children,  a 
son  and  a  daughter,  followed  this  union,  both  graduates  of  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity. Dr.  Danforth  married,  for  his  second  wife,  January  7,  1898.  Mary 
McPherson  Barnes,  widow  of  the  late  Norman  S.  Barnes,  M.  D.,  who  was 
prominent  in  the  medical  service  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  during  the  Re- 
bellion. Dr.  Danforth  has  been  a  member  of  and  trustee  in  Centenary 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  Chicago,  for  thirty  years,  and  has  for  many 
years  been  active  in  religious  and  missionary  work. 


ROBERT  HALL  BABCOCK,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Robert  Hall  Babcock  was  born  in  Watertown,  New  York  State, 
July  26,  1851,  but'while  yet  an  infant  was  removed  to  Kalamazoo,  Michigan, 
which  thereafter  remained  his  home  until  he  entered  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine in  Chicago. 

On  April  12,  1864,  an  explosion  of  gunpowder  resulted  in  the  loss  of 
his  sight.  The  following  September  he  was  sent  to  school  at  the  Institution 


i24  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

for  the  Blind  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  remained  until  the  summer  of  1867. 
He  then  entered  the  Preparatory  School  at  Olivet,  Michigan,  remaining  a 
student  there  until  he  entered  the  Freshman  class  of  Western  Reserve  Col- 
lege, Hudson,  Ohio,  in  September,  1869.  Failure  of  health  toward  the 
close  of  his  Sophomore  year  necessitated  absence  from  college  for  a  year. 
His  Junior  year  was  spent  at  Western  Reserve  College  with  the  class  of 
1874,  but  at  the  beginning  of  the  Senior  year  he  removed  to  Ann  Arbor, 
and  finished  his  course  in  that  University.  He  did  not,  however,  come  up 
for  graduation  with  his  class,  owing  to  his  unwillingness  to  comply  with 
certain  requirements  to  him  seemingly  unjust.  The  degrees  of  A.  B.,  and 
A.  M.,  were  subsequently  conferred  upon  him  by  Adelbert  College  of 
Western  Reserve  University. 

Dr.  Babcock  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  the  Fall  of  1874,  attend- 
ing lectures  at  Ann  Arbor  for  two  years,  after  which  he  repaired  to  the 
Chicago  Medical  College,  from  which  he  obtained  the  degree  of  M.  D.  The 
following  year  was  passed  in  attendance  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  New  York  City,  from  which  institution  he  received  a  diploma  in 
the  Spring  of  1879,  and  was  one  of  the  ten  Honor  men  of  his  class.  The 
next  three  months  were  spent  in  New  York  City,  in  attendance  upon  several 
clinical  courses.  The  winter  of  1879  and  1880  Dr.  Babcock  was  in  Chicago 
doing  a  little  practice,  but  chiefly  quizzing  in  Obstetrics  and  Materia  Medica 
at  the  Chicago  Medical  College.  The  following  July  he  and  his  wife  sailed 
for  Germany,  where  he  passed  the  next  three  years  in  medical  study  at  Ber- 
lin, Munich  and  Wurzburg. 

In  October.  1883,  the  Doctor  returned  and  took  up  his  residence  in 
Chicago,  where  he  has  been  in  the  active  practice'  of  medicine  to  the  present 
time.  Until  1891  he  was  attending  physician  in  the  Throat  and  Chest  De- 
partment of  the  South-side  Free  Dispensary,  which  position  he  resigned 
shortly  after  accepting  appointment  to  the  Chair  of  Clinical  Medicine  and 
Diseases  of  the  Chest  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  a  position 
he  still  holds.  From  1891  to  1896  he  was  one  of  the  attending  physicians  to 
the  Cook  County  Hospital.  .  He  helped  to  organize  the  Post  Graduate  Med- 
ical School  of  Chicago,  and  occupied  a  chair  in  that  institution  until  his 
resignation  in  1896.  In  the  fall  of  1898.  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Staff 
of  the  Cook  County  Hospital  for  Consumptives,  a  position  he  still  occupies. 
Dr.  Babcock  is  consulting  physician  to  the  Mary  Thompson  Hospital  and 
Dr.  Newman's  J.  Marion  Sims  Sanitarium. 

The  Doctor  belongs  to  the  following  medical  societies :  The  Chicago 
Medical  Society,  Chicago  Pathological  Society,  Chicago  Neurological  So- 
ciety, Chicago  Society  of  Internal  Medicine  and  the  Physicians  Club,  Illinois 
State  Medical  Society,  honorary  member  of  the  Colorado  State  Medical 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  125 

Society,  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  fellow  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Medicine,  member  of  Congress  of  American  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  American  Climatological  Association,  of  which  he  was  elected 
First  Vice-President  in  1899.  He  was  formerly  member  of  the  Tri-State 
Medical  Society,  serving  as  President  at  its  Chicago  meeting  in  1896,  and 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Medical  Association. 

On  June  12,  1879,  Dr.  Babcock  was  married  to  Miss  Lizzie  C.  Weston, 
of  Montclair,  New  Jersey. 

Dr.  Henry  M.  Lyman  writes  of  Dr.  Babcock :  "Accurate  as  a  man  well 
posted  in  the  art  of  diagnosis,  and  standing  high  in  the  esteem  of  the  pro- 
fession." 

Dr.  John  Ridlon  writes :  "I  never  think  of  Dr.  Babcock  without  a 
feeling  of  wonder.  To  me  it  is  wonderful  that  a  man  totally  blind  could 
successfully  complete  a  medical  education ;  it  is  more  wonderful  that  he  can 
practice  mulicine;  and  it  is  almost  past  believing  that  he  has  gained  a  first 
place  among  the  really  great  men  of  a  great  city.  Such  a  place  Dr.  Babcock 
has  gained.  In  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of  diseases  of  the  Heart  and 
Lungs  he  has  no  peer.  The  sensitiveness  of  his  touch,  the  delicacy  of  his 
hearing,  the  accuracy  of  his  reasoning,  are  only  equalled  by  his  wonderful 
memory  of  all  things  that  come  within  his  perception." 

Among  the  products  from  his  pen  are :  "Diseases  of  the  Heart  and 
Arterial  System,"  Appleton  &  Co.,  1903;  "Physical  Condition  Essential 
to  the  Production  of  Tympanitic  Resonance  and  Pathological  Status  of 
Pulmonary  Tissues  in  which  it  occurs,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Ex- 
aminer, July,  1884,  Vol.  49;  "A  Remarkable  Case  of  Dexiocardia,"  Medi- 
cal News,  October,  1884;  "A  Case  of  Pericarditis  and  Endocarditis,"  Medi- 
cal Age,  Detroit,  1887,  Vol.  5;  "The  Nature  of  the  Rotation  which  the 
Heart  Undergoes  in  Acquired  Dexiocardia,"  Philadelphia  Medical  Neivs, 
1888,  Vol.  53;  "Sclerosis  of  the  Coronary  Arteries,  and  its  Relation  to 
Certain  Cases  of  Cardiac  Failure,"  North  American  Practitioner,  1889,  Vol. 
i ;  "The  Remarkable  Effect  of  Diuretin  in  Removing  Dropsy,"  New  York 
Medical  Journal,  1891,  Vol.  54;  "An  Instructive  Case  of  Atheromatous 
Narrowing  of  the  Ascending  Aorta  with  Resulting  Changes  in  the  Heart," 
North  American  Practitioner,  Chicago,  1889,  Vol.  i ;  "A  Case  of  Primary 
Carcinoma  of  the  Liver,"  Medical  and  Surgical  Reports  Cook  County  Hos- 
pital, Chicago,  1890-91 ;  "Certain  Normal  Physical  Signs  and  their  Liability 
to  Lead  to  False  Diagnosis,"  North  American  Practitioner,  Chicago,  1891, 
Vol.  3;  "The  Treatment  of  Consumption,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  1893, 
Vol.  4;  "The  Medical  Aspects  of  Empyema,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  1893,  "Vol.  21  ;  "The  Schott  Method  of  Treating  Chronic 
Diseases  of  the  Heart  by  Baths  and  Gymnastics,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  October,  1893.  Vo.  21;  "The  Treatment  of  Acute  Croupous 


126  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Pneumonia,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  1892,  Vol.  3;  "Rest  in  the  Treat- 
ment of  the  Heart,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1894,  Vol.  23; 
"Enlargement  of  the  Heart  without  Valvular  Disease,  with  Special  Reference 
to  Treatment,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  December  2,  1894,  Vol. 
23 ;  "A  Case  of  Idiopathic  Enlargement  of  the  Heart  with  Autopsy,"  Chicago 
Medical  Recorder,  1894,  Vol.  6;  "The  Condition  of  the  Two  Ventricles  with 
Reference  to  the  Administration  of  Digitalis,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  1895,  Vol.  24;  "Some  Consideration  in  Regard  to  the  Senile 
Heart,"  New  York  Medical  Record,  1895,  Vol.  48;  "Report  of  Chronic 
Heart  Disease  treated  by  the  Schott  Method  of  Baths  and  Gymnastics," 
Transactions  of  the  American  Climatological  Society,  1895,  Vol.  23; 
"Aneurism  of  the  Ascending  Aorta,"  International  Clinic,  Philadelphia, 

1895,  5th  S.,  Vol.  3;  "Some  Considerations  of  Special  Importance  in  the 
Management  of   Chronic   Cardiac   Diseases,"    The  Charlotte    (North   Caro- 
lina) Medical  Journal,  May,   1895;  "Open  Air  Treatment  of  Consumptives 
who  cannot  seek  Change  of  Climate,"  Journal  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, 1895,  Vol.  24;  "The  Treatment  of  Hemoptysis,"  Medicine,  September, 
1896;  "A  Report  of  a  Case  Illustrating  the  Importance  of  Secondary  Physi- 
cal Signs  in  the  Diagnosis  of  Valvular  Heart  Disease,"  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons Plexus,  September,   1896,  Vol.   2;  "The  Use  of  Cold  in  the  Treat- 
ment of  Acute  Broncho  Pneumonia,"  North  American  Practitioner,   1896, 
Vol.  8;  "Some  Considerations  with  Regard  to  Cough,"  Medicine,  March, 

1896,  Vol.  8;   "Antitoxin,  or  Serum  Therapy,  with   Special   Reference  to 
Tuberculosis,"  North  American   Practitioner,   October,    1896,   Vol.   8;   "In- 
direct  Treatment   of   Diseased   Hearts,"    The   Medical   Standard,    Chicago, 

1897,  Vol.  19;  "Report  of  a  Case  of  Pulmonary  Stenosis  with  Exhibition  of 
Specimen,"  Medicine,  1897,  Vol.  3;  "The  Diagnosis,  and  Differential  Diag- 
nosis, of  Pulmonary  Abscess  and  Gangrene,  with  view  to  Surgical  Treatment," 
Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1898,  Vol.  30;  "Heart  Disease  from 
the  Standpoint  of  Life  Insurance,"  Medicine,  1898,  Vol.  4;  "A  case  of  Heart 
Disease  with  Instructive  Lessons  which  it  Taught,"  Journal  American  Medi- 
cal Association,    1898,   Vol.    32;   "Some   Remarks   on   Apomorphine   as   an 
Expectorant    with    a    view    to    Correcting    Prevailing    Notions    Regarding 
Dosage,"  American  Medical  and  Surgical  Bulletin,  New  York,   1898,  Vol. 
12;  "Cough  and  Thoracic  Pain,"  Physicians  and  Surgeons  Plexus,   May, 
1898;  "High  Altitude  and  Heart  Disease,"  Medical  News,  July  15,   1899; 
"Arterio-Sclerosis  with   Special   Reference  to  its  Effects  Upon  the  Heart, 
and  to  Treatment,"  Transactions,  Colorado  State  Medical  Association,  1899; 
"Pneumonia  of  the  Aged,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,   1899; 
and  "The  Ethics  of  Medical  Advertising:     Its  Methods,  Ethical  and  Unethi- 
cal,  the   Forces   that   Bring  it   About,   and   its   Inevitable   Tendency   if   not 
Checked,"  Bulletin  of  the  American  Academy  of  Medicine,  August,    1899. 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  127 

JONATHAN    ADAMS  ALLEN,  M.  D. 

The  late  Dr.  Jonathan  Adams  Allen,  born  in  Vermont,  in  1825,  was  the 
son  of  a  physician  of  eminence,  and  in  addition  to  natural  capacities  of  a  high 
order,  he  received  a  full  classical  education  in  the  schools  of  his  native  State 
and  graduated  in  medicine  in  1846.  When  the  Medical  Department  of  the 
University  of  Michigan  was  organized  he  was  elected  to  a  Chair  of  Physi- 
ology and  Pathology,  and  became  a  resident  of  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan.  In 
this  new  field  he  rapidly  acquired  a  high  reputation,  both  as  a  lecturer  and 
general  practitioner  of  medicine.  In  1859  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  fill 
the  vacant  Chair  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in  Rush  Medical 
College,  and  changed  his  residence  to  Chicago.  Here  he  soon  became,  per- 
haps, the  most  popular  medical  teacher  in  the  College  Faculty.  With  a 
mind  thoroughly  trained  by  education  and  amply  stored  with  knowledge, 
aided  by  ready  wit  and  keen  sarcasm,  he  could  impart  interest  to  almost 
any  subject.  Yet  he  contributed  only  a  limited  number  of  papers  as  valuable 
additions  to  medical  literature.  He  filled  his  professorship  thirty-one  years, 
to  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1890.  During  the  last  thirteen  years  he  was 
President  of  the  College. —  [X.  S.  DAVIS,  M.  D.,  SR.] 


FERNAND  HENROTIN,  M.  D. 

Fernand  Henrotin,  a  leading  physician  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Brus- 
sels, Belgium,  September  28,  1847.  His  father  and  grandfather  were  both 
physicians,  the  former,  J.  F.  Henrotin,  being  still  well  remembered  among 
the  old  citizens  of  Chicago  as  one  of  the  prominent  practitioners  from  1847 
to  1875.  Fernand  received  his  education  entirely  in  Chicago,  and  after 
graduating  from  the  high  school  studied  medicine  at  Rush  Medical  College, 
and  graduated  in  1868,  after  a  three  years'  course.  From  the  very  evening  of 
his  graduation  Fernand  Henrotin  has  led  a  most  active  professional  life,  and  is 
fond  of  claiming  that  he  never  lost  a  day  from  disability  in  over  thirty-five 
years  of  practice.  For  two  years  after  graduation  he  was  prosector  at  Rush 
Medical  College,  after  which  he  served  two  years  as  County  Physician  of 
Cook  county.  Then  he  became  Surgeon  of  the  Police  and  Fire  Department. 
He  was  connected,  with  the  former  for  fifteen  years  and  the  latter  for  twen- 
ty-one, for  a  number  of  years  also  serving  as  Surgeon  of  the  First  Brigade 
of  the  Illinois  National  Guard.  He  was  connected  with  the  medical  staff  of 
the  County  Hospital  as  Physician  for  several  years,  and  later  as  Gynecolo- 
gist. At  present  he  is  Surgeon  at  the  Alexian  Brothers  Hospital,  Gynecolo- 


128  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

gist  at  the  Chicago  Policlinic,  and  Consulting  Gynecologist  at  St.  Joseph's 
Hospital,  as  well  as  Acting  Gynecologist  at  the  German  Hospital.  With  all 
these  positions  he  manages  a  very  large  practice,  almost  entirely  surgical. 

Dr.  Henrotin  is  a  member  of  all  the  local  societies  and  of  the  most 
prominent  national  societies,  and  was  for  many  years  Secretary  General  for 
America  of  the  International  Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Congress.  He 
was  elected  President  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society  in  1896,  and  unani- 
mously reelected  the  following  year,  but  declined  to  serve,  believing  there 
should  be  rotation  in  office.  He  has  written  monographs  of  importance 
which  have  made  his  name  well  known,  most  of  them  treating  of  Gynecologi- 
cal subjects.  His  numerous  articles  on  "Pelvic  Septic  Diseases  in  Women" 
have  been  quoted  the  world  over,  and  he  was  the  first  to  perform  a  deliberate 
vaginal  hysterectomy,  for  Suppurative  Pelvic  Diseases,  in  America.  His 
"Ectopic  Gestation"  in  the  Practice  of  Obstetrics  by  American  authors,  and 
his  treatment  of  the  subject  of  "Gynecology"  in  the  International  Text  Book 
of  Surgery,  are  particularly  worthy  of  note.  Lately  a  small  work  which  he 
has  written,  entitled  "Democracy  of  Education  in  Medicine,"  has  attracted 
much  attention  and  favorable  comment. 

Dr.  Henrotin  is  a  worker  full  of  energy  and  practical  sense,  and,  as  he 
frequently  says,  "The  boys  don't  forge  very  far  ahead  of  him  yet."  He  is 
a  broad  man  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  a  genial,  helpful  .friend,  with  a  kindly 
feeling  toward  the  world,  never  carrying  resentment,  but  withal  gifted  with 
excellent  judgment  and  a  great  stock  of  good  everyday  common  sense. 

Dr.  Henrotin  married  Miss  Emile  B.  Prussing,  in  1873,  and  though 
having  no  children,  he  and  his  wife  are  made  happy  by  an  unusually  large 
circle  of  warm  personal  friends.  They  reside  on  the  north  side,  at  No.  353 

La  Salle  avenue. 

«->-* 

WILLIAM  F   WAUGH,  M.  D. 

Dr.  William  F.  Waugh  was  born  May  u,  1849,  in  Mercer  county, 
Pennsylvania,  of  Revolutionary  stock,  his  great-grandfather,  James  Waugh, 
having  been  a  Captain  under  Washington  in  the  "Flying  Camp."  After 
the  close  of  the  war  he  settled  at  Neshannock,  Pennsylvania,  whence  the 
family  spread  over  Mercer  county. 

James  Waugh,  Jr.,  son  of  James,  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and 
settled  at  Greenville,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  became  prominent  in  the  early 
development  of  the  iron  industry. 

William  Waugh,  son  of  James,  Jr.,  graduated  at  the  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania University,  and  as  lawyer,  editor,  judge,  prothonotary  and  banker, 
occupied  a  prominent  position  in  his  county. 


QEER3   2   HG 


L'BRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  129 

William  F.  Waugh,  second  son  of  William,  graduated  with  honor  at 
Westminster  College  in  1868,  receiving  a  gold  medal,  and  the  degree  of 
A.  M.  was  conferred  upon  him  some  years  later.  In  1871  he  graduated  from 
Jefferson  Medical  College.  His  subsequent  professional  life  embraced  a  per- 
iod as  Resident  Physician  at  the  West  Pennsylvania  Hospital  for  the  Insane; 
three  years'  service  in  the  Medical  Corps  of  the  United  States  Navy,  which 
he  entered  in  1873,  receiving  the  highest  grade  of  his  date.  His  health  being 
impaired  by  an  attack  of  yellow  fever,  he  resigned  from  the  service  and 
settled  in  Philadelphia  in  1876.  His  standing  as  a  physician  there  may  be 
judged  by  the  following  list  of  the  positions  he  filled:  Vaccine  Physician, 
Assistant  Medical  Inspector,  Philadelphia  Board  of  Health;  Professor  of 
Practice  and  Clinical  Medicine,  Medico-Chirurgical  College;  Physician-in- 
Chief ,  Medico-Chirurgical  Hospital ;  Member  Philadelphia  County,  Penn- 
sylvania State,  American  Medical  and  Northwestern  Medical  Societies,. 
President  Medico-Legal  Society,  etc.  He  successfully  edited  the  Physician's 
Magazine,  Medical  World,  Philadelphia  Medical  Times,  Medical  Times  and 
Register,  and  Dietetic  Gazette.  At  the  Ninth  International  Medical  Con- 
gress he  was  Secretary  of  the  Section  of  Medicine. 

In  the  year  1893  Dr.  Waugh  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  now  resides. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Societe  d' Electro 
Therapie  de  France,  Fellow  of  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Medicine,  etc. 

Dr.  Waugh  showed  a  strong  inclination  toward  literary  pursuits  from 
early  childhood,  following  the  footsteps  of  a  long  line  of  bookish  ancestors, 
and  of  late  years  has  withdrawn  from  the  active  practice  of  his  profession, 
except  in  consultation  work  and  certain  lines  of  unusual  difficulty,  in  order 
to  give  more  time  to  pen-work.  His  principal  contributions  to  medical  litera- 
ture are  a  "Manual  of  Treatment,"  written  in  conjunction  with  C.  F.  Tay- 
lor ;  "Manual  of  Active  Principles" ;  "Treatment  of  the  Sick" ;  and  Diseases 
of  the  Respiratory  Organs" ;  hundreds  of  magazine  articles  and  thousands 
of  editorials,  letters,  notes,  replies,  and  minor  papers.  He  has  been  a  de- 
voted advocate  of  local  antisepsis,  in  the  treatment  of  diphtheria,  typhoid 
fever,  cholera  infantum,  etc. ;  and  to  him  may  be  attributed  the  general  use 
of  the  sulphocarbolates  as  intestinal  antiseptics,  calcium  sulphide  in  gonor- 
rheal  septicaemia,  europhen  in  urethral  maladies,  intestinal  antisepsis  in  pul- 
monary phthisis,  pneumonia  and  all  other  fevers,  etc.  Dr.  Waugh  is  literary 
editor  of  the  Alkaloidal  Clinic,  a  monthly  founded  and  conducted  by  Dr.  W. 
C.  Abbott,  devoted  to  popularizing  the  use  of  the  active  principles  in  medical 
practice,  instead  of  the  uncertain,  variable  tinctures  and  extracts.  His  work 
has  therefore  dealt  with  the  clinical  aspects  of  the  physician's  work,  rather 
than  the  theoretical,  though  he  has  earnestly  urged  the  importance  of  the 
latter,  and  of  the  general  application  of  laboratory  methods,  and  accuracy  in 


I3o  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

therapeusis,  instead  of  the  old  guess  at  the  disease,  and  tentative,  timorous, 
pessimistic,  drug-intervention.  When  the  Dosimetric  method  of  Burggraeve 
was  introduced  in  America,  Dr.  Waugh  quickly  realized  its  vast  importance, 
but  he  threw  the  weight  of  his  influence  against  the  attempt  to  m,ake  of  it  a 
new  sect  in  medicine.  To  him  and  his  associates,  Drs.  Abbott  and  Shaller, 
may  be  credited  the  development  of  this  new  therapeutic  method  on  strictly 
ethical  lines,  within  the  limits  of  the  general  profession. 

Dr.  Senn  writes  of  him :  "A  prominent  general  practitioner,  progressive 
in  his  teachings  and  writings  on  therapeutics  and  practice,  who  has  greatly 
advanced  the  interest  of  scientific  medicine  in  the  northwest." 

Dr.  John  V.  Shoemaker,  of  Philadelphia,  writes :  "Prof.  William  F. 
Waugh  is  an  able  diagnostician — a  trained  and  practical  clinician  and  an  all- 
around  physician.  He  is  perfectly  at  home  in  the  sick  room,  at  the  bed-side, 
in  the  hospital  and  in  the  lecture  room." 

Dr.-  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  writes :  "Dr.  William  F.  Waugh,  of  Chicago,  has 
attained  a  deservedly  high  reputation  both  as  a  writer  and  teacher,  especially 
in  the  departments  of  Therapeutics  and  Practice  of  Medicine.  Inheriting 
mental  capacity  of  a  high  order,  and  having  the  advantages  of  a  good  collegi- 
ate and  medical  education,  he  has  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  greater  certainty  as  to  the  efficient  causes  of  disease;  more  accuracy 
of  diagnosis  as  the  basis  for  correct  therapeutic  indications ;  and,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  use  of  the  active  alkaloidal  and  other  principles  instead  of  crude 
drugs  in  the  direct  treatment  of  disease.  No  more  important  lines  of  investi- 
gation could  be  chosen,  and  his  work  is  being  duly  appreciated  both  at  home 
and  abroad." 


MOSES  GUNN,  M.  D. 

Moses  Gunn,  M.  D.,  was  born  April  20,  1822,  the  son  of  Linus  and 
Esther  (Bronson)  Gunn,  in  East  Bloomfield,  Ontario  county,  New  York. 
His  American  ancestors  descended  from  the  Gunn  clan,  in  the  north  of 
Scotland.  After  receiving  his  preliminary  education  at  the  common  schools, 
at  home,  and  taking  a  classical  education  at  the  academy,  Moses  Gunn  de- 
termined upon  pursuing  the  medical  profession,  and  entered  the  Geneva  Med- 
ical College,  whence  he  graduated  in  1846.  Immediately  after  receiving  his 
diploma  as  Doctor  of  Medicine  he  started  for  the  West,  carrying  with  him, 
in  a  neat  trunk,  the  body  of  a  huge  African,  whereon  his  surgical  skill  could 
be  exercised  at  a  favorable  opportunity.  There  were  no  "baggage-smashers" 
upon  the  Doctor's  route,  otherwise  an  unpleasant  contretemps  might  have 
occurred. 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  131 

Dr.  Gunn  arrived  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  in  February,  1846,  and  at 
the  same  time  that  he  commenced  practice  inaugurated  the  first  systematic 
course  of  Anatomical  Lectures  ever  given  in  Michigan.  He  had  a  class  of 
twenty-five  or  thirty  students,  and  it  is  presumable  that  at  the  first  lectures 
the  African  was  resurrected  and  scientifically  dissected.  Upon  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Michigan  Dr.  Gunn  was 
elected  Professor  of  Surgery  by  a  most  flattering  majority  over,  his  com- 
petitor. But  for  once  the  Latin  adage,  pahnam  qui'  mcruit  ferat,  was  carried 
out.  He  occupied  the  Chair  for  seventeen  years,  until  1867,  the  first  three 
years  teaching  both  Anatomy  and  Surgery,  and  notwithstanding  the  en- 
grossing duties  of  his  private  practice  and  his  professorship,  as  a  recreation, 
he  studied  German,  in  which  language  he  attained  great  proficiency. 

In  1848  Dr.  Gunn  married  Jane  Augusta  Terry,  the  only  daughter  of 
J.  M.  Terry,  M.  D.  In  1853  he  removed  to  Detroit,  continuing  his  dutres 
at  Ann  Arbor,  however,  and  in  1856  received  the  degree  of  M.  A.  from 
Geneva  College,  and  in  1877  that  of  LL.  D.,  from  the  University  of  Chicago. 
On  September  i,  1861,  Dr.  Gunn  entered  the  army,  that  he  might  gain  a 
practical  knowledge  of  military  surgery,  and  was  with  General  McClellan's 
army  in  the  Peninsula  campaign  of  1862,  wherein  he  rendered  efficient  med- 
ical service.  In  the  spring  of  1867  he  resigned  his  position  in  the  Medical 
Department  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  moved  to  Chicago  to  accept 
a  position  in  the  Faculty  of  Rush  Medical  College,  as  successor  to  Dr.  Brain- 
ard,  whose  death  left  vacant  the  Professorship  of  Surgery,  from  which 
time  he  became  identified  with  the  elite  of  the  profession.  In  appearance 
Dr.  Gunn  was  distingue  and  military;  his  speech  was  quick,  decisive  and 
always  germane  to  the  subject,  and  herein  lay  his  secret  as  a  successful  pro- 
fessor of  Surgery.  His  lectures  were  invariably  lucid  expositions  of  the 
subject,  while  with  the  scalpel  he  illustrated  his  disquisitions.  His  touch 
was  velvet,  his  nerves  steel ;  and,  being  gifted  with  a  profound  memory, 
exquisite  perception  and  attention  to  minutije,  it  is  no  marvel  that  he  was 
a  skillful  and  successful  surgeon,  and  a  teacher  of  high  reputation.  After  a 
protracted  illness,  he  died  at  his  home,  surrounded  by  his  family,  on  the 
4th  day  of  November,  1887. 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  pays  him  the  following  tribute :  "Dr.  Gunn 
gained  a  deservedly  high  reputation,  both  as  a  teacher  and  practitioner  of 
surgery.  Ho  was  an  active  supporter  of  medical  society  organizations  and 
a  moderate  contributor  to  medical  literature.  Personally  he  presented  an 
admirable  physical  development,  was  affable  and  kind,  dignified  and  honor- 
able, and  enjoyed  a  just  popularity  until  his  death,  in  1887." 


i32  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

LUDVIG  HEKTOEN,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

Ludvig  Hektoen,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  has  attained  a  position  in  the  medical 
circles  of  a  great  educational  center  which  places  him  among  those  who  have 
made  the  present  age  the  day  of  young  men.  He  has  achieved  distinction  as 
a  pathologist  in  his  connection  with  Rush  Medical  College  and  the  University 
of  Chicago,  the  standing  of  which  institutions  is  sufficient  guarantee  of  his 
right  to  be  classed  among  the  eminently  successful  physicians  of  the  city  of 
Chicago.  His  reputation  is  not  confined  by  the  boundaries  of  that  city,  how- 
ever, and  wherever  known  he  enjoys  the  respect  due  to  one  who  has  gained  a 
high  place  through  merit  alone. 

Dr.  Hektoen  is  a  native  of  Wisconsin,  having  been  born  July  2.,  1863, 
on  his  father's  farm  near  La  Crosse,  that  State.  His  parents,  Peter  P.  and 
Olave  (Thorsgard)  Hektoen,  natives  of  Norway,  were  early  settlers  of  Ver- 
non  county,  Wisconsin,  where  the  father  still  resides,  living  retired  in  West- 
by,  near  his  farm.  Besides  carrying  on  farming  Peter  P.  Hektoen  was  en- 
gaged as  a  school  teacher,  following  that  calling  for  several  years  in  Vernon 
county,  after  which  he  held  a  public  office  at  the  State  capital.  He  is  a  man 
held  in  the  highest  esteem  wherever  he  is  known,  and  since  his  return  to 
Vernon  county  has  been  chosen  to  various  local  offices,  in  the  administration 
of  which  he  has  shown  that  the  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens  has  not  been 
misplaced.  Noted  for  his  honesty  and  straightforwardness,  he  has  often  been 
called  upon  to  serve  as  administrator,  and  he  has  acted  as  adviser  to  many 
who  came  to  him.  His  family  consisted  of  three  children:  Ludvig;  Martin, 
who  is  assistant  physician  at  the  Illinois  Eastern  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  at 
Kankakee,  Illinois;  and  Miss  Marie,  who  is  a  graduate  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin,  and  is  at  present  taking  a  post-graduate  course  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago. 

Ludvig  Hektoen  passed  his  youth  as  a  typical  farmer  boy,  attending 
school  winters  and  assisting  on  his  father's  farm  during  the  remainder  of 
the  year.  When  fourteen  years  old  he  was  sent  to  Luther  College,  at  Decorah, 
Iowa,  and  six  years  later  graduated  from  that  institution,  with  the  degree  of 
B.  A.  The  next  year  he  spent  in  study  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  after 
which  for  one  year  he  was  engaged  as  druggist  at  the  Oshkosh  (Wisconsin) 
Insane  Asylum.  He  then  commenced  the  special  preparation  for  his  life 
work,  entering  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  Chicago,  from  which 
he  graduated  in  1887,  and  for  the  six  months  following  he  was  at  the  Insane 
Asylum  at  Kankakee,  Illinois.  Having  received  appointment  as  Interne 
(first  place)  at  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  he  returned  to  Chicago  to  enter 
upon  the  duties  of  that  position,  in  which  he  remained  until  the  spring  of 
1889.  Taking  up  the  active  practice  of  medicine  in  Chicago  at  the  close  of 


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r:=r-    X-C 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  133 

that  period,  he  has  continued  there  ever  since.  In  1890  he  was  appointed 
coroner's  physician,  serving  as  such  until  1894,  and  meantime  had  become 
Adjunct  Pathologist  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  He  had 
furthered  his  scientific  acquirements  by  study  in  Upsala,  Berlin  and  Prague, 
having  gone  to  Europe  in  April,  1890.  Returning  to  Chicago,  he  resumed 
active  practice,  and  was  elected  Professor  of  Pathology  in  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege, a  position  he  has  ably  filled  ever  since.  In  1900  he  was  honored  with 
appointment  as  head  of  the  Department  of  Pathology  and  Bacteriology  at  the 
University  of  Chicago — a  mark  of  esteem  of  which  any  physician  might 
feel  proud.  As  Professor  of  Pathology  Dr.  Hektoen  exerts  a  strong  and  wide- 
spreading  influence  on  the  minds  and  careers  of  the  hundreds  of  students 
'who  come  under  his  charge.  In  January,  1902,  Dr.  Hektoen  was  appointed 
director  of  the  Memorial  Institute  for  Infectious  Diseases  in  Chicago.  He 
holds  membership  in  the  principal  medical  societies  of  the  city,  State  and 
country,  including  the  American  Medical  Association  and  the  Association  of 
American  Physicians ;  has  served  four  years  as  president  of  the  Chicago 
Pathological  Society;  and  was  elected  president  of  the  Association  of  Amer- 
ican Pathologists  and  Bacteriologists  for  1903.  The  members  of  the  pro- 
fession are  the  best  judges  of  a  physician's  real  worth,  whether  in  the  line 
of  research  or  practice,  and  such  high  honors  are  not  bestowed  unmerited. 
A  record  like  Dr.  Hektoen's  speaks  for  itself,  especially  in  the  circles  where 
the  value  of  attainments  like  his  is  well  enough  known  to  be  correctly  esti- 
mated. 

In  1891  Dr.  Hektoen  married  Miss  Ellen  Strandh,  of  Habo,  Sweden, 
and  they  have  one  daughter,  Aikyn. 


WINFIELD  SCOTT  HALL,  PH.  D.,  M.  D. 

Winfield  S.  Hall,  born  in  Batavia,  Illinois,  on  January  5,  1861,  is  the 
oldest  son  of  Albert  N.  Hall  and  Adelia  (Foote)  Hall.  The  Hall  family 
came  from  north  England  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  settled 
in  the  northern  part  of  Vermont.  Two  or  three  brothers  of  the  second 
American  generation  went  West  and  settled  near  Toronto,  Canada.  In  1838, 
Wesley  Hall  took  his  wife  and  family  of  five  children,  of  whom  Albert  was 
the  fourth,  and  moved  from  Toronto  another,  step  westward,  to  near  Elgin, 
Illinois,  passing  through  Chicago  when  the  city  was  a  struggling  village.  He 
purchased  two  hundred  acres  of  fine  farming  land  on  the  Fox  river,  where  he 
reared  a  family  of  eleven  children,  seven  boys  and  four  girls,  inured  to  all  the 
vicissitudes  of  pioneer  life. 


I34  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

The  Hall  family,  as  represented  in  the  Vermont,  Canada  and  Illinois 
branches,  are  agricultural  people.  They  are  uniformly  well-to-do,  but  no  mem- 
ber of  the  family  has  ever  accumulated  wealth.  On  the  other  hand,  none  of 
them  has  ever  sojourned  in  the  poorhouse  or  any  other  county  or  State  insti- 
tution for  the  "unfortunate."  They  are  honest,  industrious,  economical, 
and  temperate.  They  are  free  from  any  hereditary  tendency  to  tuberculosis, 
neuroses  or  the  "king's  evil,"  and  usually  live  to  an  advanced  age.  They  are 
usually  sanguine  in  temperament  and  not  given  to  worry  over  this  world 
or  the  next. 

The  progenitor  of  the  Foote  family  in  America  was  Nathaniel  Foote, 
''The  Settler"  (1593-1644),  who  married  Elizabeth  Deeming  in  England. 
With  his  wife  and  six  children  he  emigrated  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay- 
Colony  in  1630,  and  six  years  later,  with  John  Deeming  and  others,  made  the 
perilous  forest  journey  from  Boston  to  the  lower  Connecticut  valley  and 
settled  in  Wethersfield,  Connecticut.  The  descendants  of  Nathaniel  Foote, 
"The  Settler,"  number  many  thousands,  now  scattered  throughout  the  land, 
but  principally  centered  in  Connecticut,  Massachusetts  and  New  York.  A 
family  genealogy  compiled  in  1847  shows  that  up  to  that  time  most  of  the 
Footes  had  been  agricultural,  though  a  very  considerable  portion  had  entered 
the  learned  professions.  Among  the  descendants  of  Nathaniel  Foote  are  num- 
bered members  of  Congress  and  of  various  State  Legislatures ;  college  pro- 
fessors and  presidents;  circuit  judges  and  a  state  governor;  an  admiral  of  the 
United  States  navy,  and  numerous  commissioned  officers  in  the  army ;  doctors, 
lawyers  and  authors  of  national  repute. 

The  Foote  family  possesses  certain  well-marked  characteristics.  They 
are  usually  of  nervous  temperament,  and  always  aggressive  and  ambitious. 
They  are  industrious,  energetic  and  thrifty,  and  are  always  temperate  and 
honorable.  No  member  of  this  family  has  ever  been  reduced  to  more  than  a 
temporary  poverty,  and  the  family  contains  no  degenerate  or  criminal.  There 
are  no  hereditary  taints  of  any  kind,  no  tuberculosis  and  no  neuroses,  and  the 
individuals  are  blessed  with  unusual  longevity.  The  members  of  the  family 
have  turned  their  activities  to  agriculture,  trade  or  the  professions,  and  have 
produced  eminent  men  in  theology,  medicine,  law,  navy  and  literature,  as  the 
above  enumeration  shows. 

On  January  5,  1861,  a  son  was  born  to  Albert  N.  Hall  and  Adelia  Foote 
Hall.  When  a  name  was  chosen,  Lincoln  had  made  his  second  call  for  volun- 
teers, war  was  in  the  air,  and  the  boy  was  christened  Winfield  Scott.  In  a 
few  weeks  Albert  N.  Hall  marched  away  with  the  Fifty-second  Illinois  to  join 
Ulysses  S.  Grant's  command  in  western  Kentucky.  He  took  part  in  the 
engagements  at  Paducah,  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh  and  Corinth.  A  wound 
at  Corinth  retired  him  from  the  firing  line  for  the  rest  of  the  war.  Returning 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  135 

from  the  war  in  1865,  three  years  were  required  to  so  far  mend  his  broken 
fortunes  that  Albert  N.  Hall  could,  with  his  family,  now  increased  by  a  second 
son,  join  the  great  tide  of  army  veterans  who  were  going  west  to  locate 
"soldiers'  homesteads."  Locating  temporarily  near  Nebraska  City,  he  later 
moved  to  the  frontier,  and  took  a  homestead  near  Hastings,  Nebraska,  where 
he  has  remained  to  see  a  trackless  plain  develop  into  a  thickly  settled  and  pros- 
perous community,  with  fine  schools,  numerous  churches,  and  other  marks 
of  prosperity  and  progress. 

The  pioneer  life  with  its  privations  and  its  adventures  tended  to  develop 
the  best  that  was  in  Winfield  S.  Hall.  The  names  of  Lincoln  and  Grant  were 
household  words,  and  the  lives  of  these  and  others  of  the  nation's  heroes  were 
ever  held  up  by  the  parents  as  examples  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  over- 
coming difficulties.  A  difficulty  was  defined  as  something  to  be  squarely 
faced  and  promptly  overcome.  The  word  "failure"  was  not  in  the  vocabulary. 
The  fact  that  schools  were  elementary  in  grade  and  accessible  only  in  winter 
was  no  reason  why  one  should  not  receive  an  education.  With  the  father's 
encouragement  and  the  mother's  guidance,  Winfield  studied  mornings  and 
evenings  in  the  winter  and  continued  the  studies  through  the  summer,  carry- 
ing Latin  paradigms  or  mathematical  problems  to  the  field  and  mastering 
them  while  at  work.  At  eighteen  he  began  teaching  in  a  neigh- 
boring district,  boarding  at  home  and  walking  or  riding  the  four 
miles,  morning  and  night.  Two  years  later  he  held  a  first  grade 
county  certificate,  and  the  following  year  a  first  grade  State  certifi- 
cate, which  covered  all  the  branches  of  a  high  school  course.  In  the 
fall  of  1 88 1  he  entered  the  Freshman  class  of  the  Northwestern  University, 
choosing  the  course  in  Modern  Languages,  Mathematics  and  the  Natural 
Sciences.  At  the  end  of  the  Sophomore  year  his  success  may  be  measured 
by  his  winning  of  the  prize  in  Botany  and  receiving  "special  mention"  in 
Mathematics.  The  meager  savings  of  his  teaching  all  exhausted,  it  now 
became  necessary  for  him  to  earn  his  way  as  he  went.  Having  decided  to 
enter  the  medical  profession,  he  entered  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  which 
was  affiliated  with  the  Northwestern  University,  and  earned  his  first  year's 
expenses  by  delivering  morning  papers.  The  pittance  ($3.25  per  week) 
received  for  this  seven-mile  jaunt  before  breakfast  every  morning  had  to  be 
expended  very  judiciously  to  cover  the  items  of  board,  room,  fuel,  laundry, 
books  and  clothing.  In  the  following  spring  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
Evanston  Boat  Club's  house  and  boats,  a  position  which  brought  him  again 
into  touch  with  the  college  life  which  he  had  left  so  regretfully  and  which 
he  longed  to  enter  again.  The  following  year  he  resumed  his  Liberal  Arts 
studies,  and  received  in  1887,  from  Northwestern  University,  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Science,  graduating  with  general  honors  in  scholarship.  During 


136  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

his  Senior  year  in  college  he  was  made  instructor  in  Mathematics  and  Science 
in  the  Chicago  Athenaeum,  teaching  evening  classes.  This  position  solved  the 
financial  problem,  and  the  opportunities  for  day  classes  and  private  tutoring  in 
summer  enabled  him  to  have  a  bank  balance  of  $500  at  the  end  of  his  medical 
course. 

The  medical  studies  were  resumed,  and  in  April,  1888,  he  received  from 
the  Chicago  Medical  College  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  At  gradua- 
tion from  the  medical  school  he  won  the  Ingalls  Prize  of  $100,  given  by 
Ephraim  Ingalls  to  the  one  who  should  pass  the  best  examination  in  the 
whole  field  of  Language,  Literature,  History,  Mathematics,  Chemistry, 
Physics.  Biology,  Astronomy,  Geology,  and  the  whole  medical  course  of  three 
years.  He  won  also  the  Fowler  prize  of  a  $100  set  of  oculist's  test  lenses, 
for  the  best  examination  in  theoretical  and  applied  optics.  He  also  won  an 
interneship  in  Mercy  Hospital,  Chicago. 

On  October  n,  1888,  Dr.  Hall  married  Jeannette  Winter,  and  entered 
upon  his  interneship  in  November.  During  the  year  in  Mercy  Hospital  he 
made  a  special  study  of  a  number  of  cases  of  Pathology,  and  on  a  thesis 
entitled  "The  Relation  of  Pathology  to  the  Evolution  Theory,"  received  in 
June,  1889,  from  Northwestern  University,  the  degree  of  Master  of  Science. 
About  this  time  Dr.  Hall  received  a  call  to  the  Chair  of  Biology  at  Haverford 
College,  Pennsylvania.  Accepting  the  call,  he  spent  a  semester  at  Harvard  in 
special  preparation  for  his  new  position.  The  four  years  spent  at  Haverford 
were  years  of  the  most  intense  activity.  His  teaching  covered  the  whole  field 
of  Biology.  Besides  his  work  in  Biology,  he  was  Medical  Director  of  the 
Athletic  Work  and  Medical  Examiner  at  Haverford,  and  at  the  William  Penn 
Charter  School  of  Philadelphia.  Anthropometric  data  collected  in  these 
examinations  formed  the  basis  of  an  extended  research  which  occupied  much 
of  his  vacation  time  at  Haverford,  and  which  was  finally  finished  in  Europe. 
In  June.  1893,  Dr.  Hall  resigned  his  position  at  Haverford,  and  with  Mrs. 
Hall  went  to  Leipzig,  Germany,  where  both  entered  the  University,  Dr.  Hall 
taking  up  a  special  line  of  work  in  Physiology  with  the  great  master,  Carl 
Ludwig,  while  Mrs.  Hall  continued,  under  Leukhart,  biological  studies  pur- 
siied  for  four  years  in  Haverford. 

In  May,  1894,  Dr.  Hall  completed  a  dissertation  entitled  "Die  Resorption 
des  Carniferins."  based  upon  his  work  in  Ludwig's  Laboratory.  Having 
attended  the  clinics  of  Thiersch,  Curschmann,  Zweifel  and  Schoen,  he  came 
before  the  Medical  Faculty  as  a  candidate  for  a  degree.  Passing  the  exami- 
nation successfully,  he  received  in  June,  1894,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi- 
cine from  Leipzig  University.  He  began  at  once,  under  the  anthropologist 
Emil  Schmidt,  to  complete  the  anthropological  research  begun  four  years 
before  in  Philadelphia.  Choosing  Anthropology  as  a  nnjor  subject,  and 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  137 

Zoology  and  Botany  as  minor  subjects,  he  registered  in  the  Department  of 
Philosophy  of  Leipzig  University  as  a  candidate  for  the  Doctor's  degree,  all 
requirements  for  which  were  satisfied,  and  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  and 
Doctor  of  Philosophy  granted,  in  November,  1894.  The  dissertation  entitled 
"Changes  in  the  Proportions  of  the  Human  Body  During  the  Period  of 
Growth"  was  written  in  English  for  publication  in  London.  After  this,  Dr. 
Hall  studied  a  year  in  Zurich,  Switzerland,  where  he  conducted  research  work 
in  nutrition,  publishing  at  the  end  of  that  year  two  researches:  (i)  "Ueber 
die  Darstellung  eines  kiinstlichen  Putters";  (2)  "Ueber  das  Verhalten  des 
Eisens  im  thierischen  Organismus." 

Having  accepted  a  call  to  the  Chair  of  Physiology  in  the  Northwestern 
University  Medical  School,  Dr.  Hall  came  to  Chicago  and  entered  upon  the 
duties  of  the  position  which  he  now  occupies  in  October,  1895.  Dr.  Arthur 
R.  Edwards,  secretary  of  the  Northwestern  Medical  School,  writes  of  Dr. 
Hall:  "Professor  Hall  is  eminently  a  college  man,  a  man  of  great  physical 
and  mental  strength,  who  is  always  ready  to  help  students  or  his  colleagues  in 
any  enterprise.  He  is  most  generous  and  sympathetic;  and  his  work  in 
physiology  is  but  partly  shown  in  his  text-book  on  physiology.  Personally 
he  is  one  of  the  most  sincere  and  steadfast  friends  a  man  could  have." 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  writes:  "Winfield  Scott  Hall,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 
Ph.  D.,  is  one  of  the  comparatively  few  men  in  the  medical  profession  who 
prefers  to  devote  his  time  entirely  to  scientific  pursuits.  With  no  other  capi- 
tal than  good  mental  endowments,  good  morals,  and  untiring  industry,  W.  S. 
Hall  with  steady  purpose  worked  his  way  through  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts 
of  Northwestern  University  and  then  entered  its  Medical  School,  from  which 
he  graduated  as  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1888,  having  stood  in  the  front  rank  of 
his  classes  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  and  yet  paying  his  way  from  the 
proceeds  of  his  own  labor.  Instead  of  entering  at  once  upon  the  practice  of 
medicine  he  accepted  the  Chair  of  Biology  in  Haverford  College,  Philadelphia, 
where  he  rapidly  gained  a  wider  reputation  and  saved  money  enough  to 
enable  him  to  spend  two  years  in  the  universities  and  medical  schools  of  Ger- 
many, giving  prominent  attention  to  the  general  field  of  physiological  science. 
At  the  University  of  Leipzig  he  was  awarded  both  the  degrees  of  Doctor  of 
Philosophy  and  Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1894.  The  next  year  he  was  elected 
to  the  Chair  of  Physiology  in  the  Northwestern  University  Medical 
School,  with  sufficient  salary  to  enable  him  to  devote  his  whole  time  to  the 
teaching  of  Physiology  both  in  the  lecture  room  and  the  laboratories. 
Accepting  the  same,  he  returned  directly  to  Chicago  and  entered  upon  the 
discharge  of  his  official  duties.  Personally  Professor  Hall  is  unassuming, 
gentlemanly  and  companionable,  with  a  character  for  integrity  and  virtue 
above  reproach.  As  a  man  of  wide  scientific  attainments,  and  a  thorough 


138  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

teacher  and  writer  in  the  important  department  of  physiology,  he  has  already 
achieved  a  reputation  second  to  that  of  no  other  physiologist  in  this  country." 

From  the  Sisters  of  Mercy,  under  whose  direction  the  Mercy  Hospital 
is  conducted,  and  who  had  the  honor  to  be  Dr.  Hall's  first  pupils  in  physiology, 
we  have  the  following  contribution  : 

"Prof.  W.  S.  Hall  has  been  connected  with  the  Mercy  Hospital  of 
Chicago  since  the  spring  of  1888,  at  which  time  he  became  Interne,  a  position 
obtained  by  competitive  examination.  As  Interne  Dr.  Hall  gave  perfect  satis- 
faction in  each  department.  He  was  well  qualified  for  the  work  mentally  and 
physically.  His  work  was  arduous,  as  at  that  time  the  science  of  Bacteriology 
was  revolutionizing  the  medical  world.  A  spirit  of  unrest  and  investigation 
seemed  to  arouse  the  mental  activities  of  all  who  had  the  desire  to  advance 
and  succeed  in  the  medical  profession. 

"Dr.  Hall  was  among  the  foremost  in  the  race  for  higher  and  better 
scientific  work.  At  that  time  the  Sisters  were  organizing  a  Training  School 
for  Nurses,  in  which  work  Dr.  Hall  was  interested.  It  was  at  this  time  chat 
Dr.  Hall  gave  his  first  course  of  lectures  on  Anatomy  and  Physiology.  Sis- 
ters and  pupils  came  from  St.  Xavier's  Academy  and  other  schools  conducted 
by  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  to  attend  this  course  of  lectures,  and  all  who  had  the 
pleasure  of  hearing  them  derived  much  benefit  from  the  knowledge  of  the 
subjects  as  presented  by  so  able  a  teacher.  We  all  felt  that  he  possessed  the 
qualifications  necessary  to  make  a  good  teacher,  namely,  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  his  subject  and  the  ability  to  impart  that  knowledge  to  others. 

"Dr.  Hall  was  not  satisfied  with  the  amount  of  knowledge  he  had  ac- 
quired, but  still  hungered  for  more,  as  the  Wise  Man  says  of  wisdom,  'Those 
who  eat  me  shall  yet  hunger,  and  those  who  drink  me  shall  yet  thirst.'  In 
order  to  satisfy  this  laudable  hunger  and  thirst  for  wisdom,  as  we  may  call  this 
desire  for  more  profound  knowledge,  the  Doctor  went  abroad.  It  was  not  to 
please  himself,  for  what  he  proposed  to  do  would  require  years  of  toil  and  self- 
denial  in  this  labor  of  self-culture;  it  was  in  order  that  he  might  be  the  better 
prepared  to  become  the  bearer  of  those  best  gifts  to  others.  Hippocrates  says, 
'Godlike  is  the  physician  who  is  a  Philosopher.'  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is 
truly  a  philosopher,  and  he  wished  to  impart  this  gift  to  others,  therefore  he 
decided  to  allow  others  to  light  their  lamps  from  the  flame  of  his  torch,  feeling 
that  his  lustre  was  only  heightened  by  passing  on  his  light  to  illuminate  the 
minds  of  all  who  came  within  his  sphere  of  action.  Whilst  abroad  he  drank  of 
the  fountains  of  knowledge  and  studied  the  best  means  of  imparting  to  others 
the  science  he  had  acquired.  For  this  purpose  he  collected  the  many  new  appa- 
ratuses and  appliances  best  adapted  to  demonstrate  what  he  proposed  to  teach, 
viz. :  Physiology  in  its  fullest  sense. 

"Thus  prepared  to  give  the  most  thorough  course  in  all  branches  of  this 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  139 

important  department  of  medical  science,  Dr.  W.  S.  Hall  set  forth  to  give  his 
work  in  the  clearest  and  most  interesting  manner.  Like  the  great  educator 
that  he  is,  he  aimed  to  create  new  interest  and  keep  the  minds  of  his  pupils 
always  fixed  on  the  subject  before  them.  At  the  Mercy  Hospital  we  have  the 
great  advantage  of  again  enjoying  the  instruction  of  Prof.  Hall.  When 
the  curriculum  of  Mercy  Hospital  Training  School  was  arranged  by  Dr. 
Frank  Billings,  and  the  name  of  Dr.  Hall  appeared,  it  was  hailed  with  delight, 
for  all  realized  the  fact  that  we  were  to  have  a  veritable  intellectual  treat. 
His  lectures  to  the  Training  School  after  his  return  from  abroad  were  most 
interesting  and  instructive,  as  he  brought  from  the  Northwestern  University 
Medical  School  an  entire  outfit  of  apparatus  in  order  to  demonstrate  each  sub- 
ject. Mechanical  iteration  is  the  fault  of  many  teachers,  but  the  mechanical 
and  chemical  experiments  of  Dr.  Hall  are  a  source  of  intellectual  joy  and 
pleasure,  as  they  remove  the  screen  which  concealed  from  us  the  mystic 
mechanism  of  our  own  existence.  Beginning  with  cell  life,  he  demonstrates 
from  the  lowest  form  of  plant  and  animal  life,  and  finally  the  highest  form, 
namely,  human  life,  entering  fully  into  the  five  activities  of  cell  life,  Absorp- 
tion, Secretion,  Respiration,  Digestion  and  Excretion. 

"Dr.  Hall  is  the  first  teacher  west  of  the  Alleghanies  who  introduced  the 
methods  and  appliances  which  he  uses  in  his  lectures.  The  lectures  on  food 
stuffs  and  chemical  analysis  of  foods  are  particularly  instructive  and  useful  to 
nurses.  In  their  care  of  the  sick,  Dietetics  holds  an  important  place.  Some 
one  has  said,  'Women  are  responsible  for  making  America  a  nation  of  dyspep- 
tics.' If  Dr.  Hall's  selection  and  cooking  of  foods  be  reduced  to  practice  by 
our  cooks  or  'queens  of  the  kitchen,'  those  who  have  the  happiness  of  having 
his  instructions  carried  out  in  their  household  should  rise  up  and  bless  him  for 
the  health,  wealth  and  happiness  which  may  be  theirs  to  enjoy  for  a  lifetime. 

"We  believe  as  a  scientific  teacher  of  his  chosen  subjects  Dr.  Hall  is  un- 
surpassed. A  classic  writer  has  said  no  better  fortune  can  befall  a  common- 
wealth than  to  have  superior  intellectual  men  who  agree  to  work  together  for 
the  common  welfare.  Dr.  W.  S.  Hall  is  such,  and  Chicago  has  reason  to  be 
congratulated  on  having  such  a  man  to  hand  his  spirit  on  to  future  genera- 
tions. As  Cicero  is  styled  Prince  of  Orators,  we  may  style  Dr.  Hall  Prince  of 
Teachers." 

Dr.  George  W.  Webster,  President  of  the  Board  of  Health  of  the  State 
of  Illinois,  speaks  thus  of  Dr.  Hall :  "I  have  known  Dr.  Hall  for  many  years 
as  a  student  and  teacher  and  educator,  and  I  know  him  to  be  one  of  the  fore- 
most and  prominent  physiologists  of  this  country,  a  man  of  broad  culture,  lib- 
eral attainments,  a  thinker  and  scholar,  and  above  all  a  manly  man,  imbued 
with  the  true  spirit  of  real  professionalism,  that  is,  like  Ruskin's  reason  for 
the  esteem  in  which  the  soldier  is  held,  'he  holds  his  life  at  the  service  of  the 


i4o  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

state.'    In  the  study  of  the  alcohol  question,  as  well  as  in  many  other  questions 
of  vital  public  interest,  he  has  taken  a  prominent  part." 

Among  Dr.  Hall's  more  important  publications  may  be  mentioned  the 
following :  ( i )  "Die  Resorption  des  Carniferins,"  Archiv  fur  Anat.  u. 
Physiologic,  Leipzig,  1894.  (2)  "Changes  in  the  Proportions  of  the  Human 
Body  During  the  Period  of  Growth,"  Journal  Anthropological  Institute  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  London,  1895.  (3)  "Ueber  das  Verhalten  des 
Eisens'im  thierischen  Organismus,"  Archiv  f.  Anat.  u.  Physiologic,  Leipzig, 
1896.  (4)  "Ueber  die  Darstellung  eines  Kiinstlichen  Putters,"  Archiv  f. 
Anat.  u.  Physiologic,  Leipzig,  1896.  (5)  "The  Regeneration  of  the  Blood," 
Journal  of  Experimental  Medicine,  Vol.  I,  Baltimore,  1896.  (6)  "The  Re- 
covery of  Animals  after  Serum  Transfusion,"  North  American  Practitioner, 
Vol.  IX,  Chicago,  1897.  (7)  "A  Laboratory  Guide  in  Physiology,"  350 
pages,  published  by  Chicago  Medical  Book  Company,  Chicago,  1897.  (8) 
"The  Anatomy  of  the  Central  Nervous  System,  by  Edinger,"  446  pages, 
translation  from  German,  published  by  the  F.  A.  Davis  Co.,  Philadelphia, 
1899.  (9)  "A  Text-book  of  Physiology,"  670  pages,  Lea  Brothers  &  Co., 
Philadelphia,  October,  1899.  (10)  "The  Chest  Pantograph,"  Bulletin  of 
Northwestern  Medical  University  Medical  School,  July,  1900.  (n)  "Ele- 
mentary Anatomy,  Physiology  and  Hygiene,"  270  pages,  American  Book 
Co.,  New  York,  1900.  (12)  "Intermediate  Physiology  and  Hygiene,"  180 
pages,  American  Book  Co.,  New  York,  1901.  (13)  "Contractility,"  article  in 
Reference  Handbook  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  William  Wood  &  Co.,  New 
York,  1901.  (14)  "The  Evaluation  of  Anthropometric  Data,"  Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  Chicago,  1901.  (15)  "Lymph,"  article  in 
Reference  Handbook  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Vol.  V,  1902.  ( 16)  "The  Frog- 
Board  Myograph,"  Northwestern  University  Bulletin,  1902.  (17)  "Taste," 
article  in  Reference  Handbook  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Vol.  VII,  1903.  (18) 
"Thirst,"  article  in  Reference  Handbook  of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Vol.  VII, 
1903.  ( 19)  "Training,  Physical,"  article  in  Reference  Handbook  of  the  Medi- 
cal Sciences,  Vol.  VII,  1903.  (20)  "Vision,"  article  in  Reference  Handbook 
of  the  Medical  Sciences,  Vol.  VIII,  1904. 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  141 

CHARLES  OILMAN  SMITH,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Charles  Oilman  Smith,  late  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Exeter,  New 
Hampshire,  January  4,  1828,  and  received  his  academic  education  in  the 
Phillips  Academy  of  that  town.  In  1844,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  he 
entered  the  Sophomore  class  of  Harvard  College,  and  graduated  in  1847. 
He  entered  directly  upon  the  study  of  medicine  and  attended  his  first  medi- 
cal college  course  in  the  Medical  School  of  Harvard,  in  Boston,  1848-49. 
On  account  of  the  excitement  and  confusion  consequent  upon  the  Webster- 
Parkman  murder  that  occurred  at  that  time  he  changed  his  subsequent  Med- 
ical College  attendance  to  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1851.  He  returned  to  Boston 
and  served  two  years  as  Physician  in  the  Almshouse  Hospital  in  South 
Boston,  from  which  he  went  to  Chicago  in  1853,  and  commenced  work  as  a 
general  practitioner.  With  excellent  natural  mental  and  physical  endow- 
ments, developed  and  disciplined  by  a  liberal  collegiate  and  medical  educa- 
tion, he  rapidly  acquired  a  good  general  practice  and  a  high  social  position. 
During  the  Civil  war,  from  1861  to  1864,  he  was  one  of  the  six  physicians 
appointed  to  take  medical  charge  of  the  Confederate  prisoners  in  Camp 
Douglas,  and  discharged  the  onerous  duties  imposed  with  skill  and  fidelity. 
In  1868  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  visited  the  leading  hospitals  and  medical 
institutions  of  England,  France  and  Germany.  When  the  Woman's  Med- 
ical College  of  Chicago  was  organized  in  connection  with  the  Chicago  Hospi- 
tal for  Women  and  Children,  in  1870,  he  accepted  the  Professorship  of 
Diseases  of  Children,  and  discharged  its  duties  satisfactorily  several  years. 
He  also  took  an  active  interest  in  the  organization  of  the  Peck  Home  for 
Incurables  and  was  one  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Institution.  Though  a  highly 
respected  member,  of  the  city,  State  and  national  medical  societies,  he  made 
but  few  contributions  to  medical  literature.  He  early  took  an  interest  in 
medical  examinations  for  Life  Insurance,  and  was  employed  by  several  of 
the  leading  Life  Insurance  companies  many  years.  His  literary  attainments 
were  of  a  high  order.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Harvard  Club;  of 
the  Literary  Club  of  Chicago,  and  of  the  Society  of  Graduates  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania. 

In  1873  Dr.  Smith  married  Harriet,' the  youngest  daughter  of  Erastus 
F.  Gaylord,  one  of  the  earlier  settlers  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  his  home  be- 
came a  center  of  the  most  cordial  though  unostentatious  hospitality.  He  died 
after  a  protracted  period  of  ill-health,  January  10,  1894,  leaving  a  widow, 
but  no  children. 


I42  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

WALTER  S.  CHRISTOPHER,  M.  D. 

Walter  S.  Christopher,  whose  high  attainments  in  the  medical  world, 
and  whose  conspicuous  individuality  in  seeking  new  methods,  have  won  him 
an  enviable  standing  among  his  professional  brethren,  was  born  in  Newport, 
Kentucky,  in  1859.  The  schools  of  Newport  and  Cincinnati  afforded  him 
ample  facilities  for  a  substantial  foundation  to  his  professional  education, 
and  he  was  graduated  from  the  Woodward  High  School  in  the  latter  city  in 
1876.  His  medical  studies  were  pursued  in  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio,  and 
in  1883  that  institution  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  M.  D.  During  his 
last  year  in  College  he  served  as  Interne  in  the  Cincinnati  Hospital.  Dis- 
eases of  Children  had  interested  him  above  and  beyond  all  others,  and  he 
prepared  himself  thoroughly  to  cope  with  that  particular  line  of  work. 
Immediately  upon  his  graduation  he  was  made  assistant  in  the  Children's 
Clinic  in  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio,  a  position  he  held  from  1883  to  1890. 
In  1884  he  was  made  Demonstrator  of  Chemistry,  and  continued  until  1890. 
Dr.  Christopher  did  not  neglect  his  own  studies  during  these  years  he  served 
as  instructor.  His  untiring  energy,  his  devotion  to  his  calling,  and  his 
constant  association  with  noted  members  of  the  profession,  all  tended  to 
broaden  and  deepen  a  mind  naturally  alert.  Hours  were  spent  in  patient, 
careful  study,  and  each  day  was  divided  as  would  best  serve  to  do  and  to 
gain  the  most.  Success  has  always  crowned  the  efforts  of  those  who  labor, 
not  for  the  praise  of  the  world,  but  to  attain  a  real  and  lasting  treasure. 

In  1890  Dr.  Christopher  was  called  to  the  Chair  of  Theory  and  Practice 
of  Medicine  in  the  University  of  Michigan.  The  following  year  he  came  to 
Chicago,  where  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Children  at  the 
Chicago  Policlinic;  and  in  1892  he  received  an  appointment  to  a  similar 
position  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons. 

Interested  above  all  things  else  in  his  profession,  Dr.  Christopher  has 
not.  confined  his  efforts  merely  to  advance  himself  along  the  lines  laid  down  in 
the  past.  On  the  other  hand  he  has  endeavored  to  educate  the  people  to  an 
intelligent  conception  of  good  sanitation.  In  1898-1900.  he  was  a  member 
of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Education,  and  was  instrumental  in  establishing 
the  system  of  medical  inspection  of  the  schools,  and  also  in  establishing  the 
Child  Study  Department.  In  such  innovations  the  Doctor  naturally  incurred 
much  criticism,  but  with  the  sturdy  independence  of  his  nature  he  pressed  on, 
leaving  time  to  justify  his  actions,  and  to  prove  him  some  years  in  advance 
of  the  majority  of  mankind. 

On  December  25,  1884,  Dr.  Christopher  was  married  to  Henrietta 
Wenderoth,  and  two  children,  Alice  and  Frederick,  have  been  born  to  them. 
Dr.  Christopher  is  a  son  of  Charles  H.  Christopher,  a  mechanical  engineer 


&V  HBBncTjrTcLyfcjr  Jr  CH 


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born  in  Cincinnati  (a  son  of  William  Christopher,  a  native  of  Maryland  of 
Scotch  descent),  and  his  wife  Mary  A.  Shield  (a  daughter  of  Francis  Shield 
and  Maria  Moore  of  New  York  City). 

Dr.  Christopher  is  a  member  and  ex-president  of  the  American  Ped- 
iatric  Society;  and  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the 
Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  the  Chicago 
Academy  of  Medicine,  the  Chicago  Pediatric  Society,  the  Chicago  Pathologi- 
cal Society,  and  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society.  He  is  also  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Cincinnati  Academy  of  Medicine. 

Dr.  Christopher  is  the  author  of  the  following  papers :  "Summer  Com- 
plaint," Medical  News,  March  3,  1888;  "Intestinal  Superdigestion,"  New 
York  Medical  Journal,  November  9,  1889;  and  "Summer  Complaint,"  read 
before  the  Cincinnati  Academy  of  Medicine,  November  n,  1889,  and  re- 
printed from  the  Archives  of  Pediatrics,  May,  1890.  "Typhoid  Fever  in 
Infancy,"  reprinted  from  Archives  of  Pediatrics,  October,  1892;  "Starva- 
tion Neuroses,"  reprinted  from  Archives  of  Pediatrics,  August,  1892; 
"Treatment  of  Summer  Complaint,"  reprinted  from  the  American  Journal 
of  Obstetrics,  Vol.  XXVII,  No.  2,  1893;  "Pathogenesis  of  Bronchitis  in 
Infants  and  Children,"  read  in  the  Section  on  Diseases  of  Children  at  Forty- 
fourth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  reprinted 
from  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  December  9,  1893; 
"A  Plea  for  the  Study  of  Pediatrics,"  reprinted  from  the  American  Journal 
of  Obstetrics,  Vol.  XXIX,  No.  i,  1894;  "The  Nutritional  Element  in  the 
Causation  of  Neuroses,"  from  Archives  of  Pediatrics,  December,  1894; 
"The  So-Called  Intestinal  Indigestion,"  reprinted  from  the  Therapeutic 
Gazette,  March,  1896;  "The  Relation  of  Medicine  to  Biology  and  other 
Sciences,"  reprinted  from  the  Physicians  and  Surgeons  Plexus,  June,  1896; 
"Three  Crises  in  Child  Life,"  reprinted  from  the  Child-Study  Monthly,  De- 
cember, 1897;  "The  Last  of  the  Clinicians,"  reprinted  from  the  Intercol- 
legiate Medical  Journal,  March,  1897;  "Chicago  Public  Schools  Report  on 
Child-Study  Investigation,  March,  1899,  to  June  23,  1899,"  reprint  from  the 
Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Chicago,  1898-1899;  "Measure- 
ments of  Chicago  School  Children,"  read  before  the  American  Pediatric  So- 
ciety, Washington,  D.  C,  May  3,  1900;  "The  Relation  of  Unbalanced  Phy- 
sical Development  to  Pubertal  Morbidity,  as  Shown  by.  Physical  Measure- 
ment," read  before  the  American  Pediatric  Society,  and  reprinted  from  the 
Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  Septeml)er  n,  1901 ;  Presiden- 
tial Address,  "Development  the  Key-note  of  Pediatrics,"  American  Pediatric 
Society,  1902.  His  lectures  delivered  in  the  Fourth  Special  Course  of  the 
Chicago  Policlinic  were:  "Classification  of  Diarrhoeas,  Etiology  and  Path- 
ology of  Summer  Complaint ;"  "Symptomatology  and  Treatment  of  Summer 


144  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Complaint;"  and  "Infant  Feeding,"  reprinted  from  the  Journal  of  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,  April  30,  May  7,  and  May  21,  1892. 

Of  Dr.  Christopher's  work  in  and  for  the  public  schools,  Graham  H. 
Harris,  president  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Education,  writes :  "In  connec- 
tion with  Dr.  Christopher's  service  on  the  Board  of  Education,  it  gives  me 
great  pleasure  to  state  that  I  believe  that  his  services  are  of  inestimable  value, 
not  only  to  the  public  school  system  of  Chicago,  but  to  the  world  at  large, 
in  bringing  about  the  introduction  of  the  Child  Stud}  and  Scientific  Peda- 
gogy and  Medical  Inspection  in  the  Chicago  public  schools." 

Among  his  professional  brethren,  Dr.  Christopher  is  highly  esteemed 
for  his  perosnal  characteristics,  as  well  as  for  his  profound  knowledge  of  the 
profession  he  adorns. 

Dr.  John  Ridlon  writes :  "Dr.  W.  S.  Christopher  is  a  very  learned 
man ;  no  one  is  more  eminent  authority  in  diseases  of  children.  He  is  an  un- 
tiring worker,  a  profound  reasoner,  a  gentle  physician  and  a  warm  hearted 
friend." 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  writes:  "W.  S.  Christopher,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Pediatrics  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  is  a 
physician  of  much  more  than  ordinary  mental  activity  and  professional  at- 
tainments. During  the  seventeen  years  that  he  has  been  in  practice,  he  has 
devoted  much  time  to  the  study  of  the  Diseases  of  Children  and  their  treat- 
ment; and  has  attained  a  deservedly  high  reputation  both  as  a  teacher  and 
practitioner  in  that  important  department  of  the  general  field  of  medicine. 
He  has  also  manifested  a  commendable  disposition  to  improve  the  sanitary 
conditions  and  regulations  of  the  public  schools,  as  a  means  of  preventing 
disease  among  the  children." 

Dr.  Frank  Billings,  under  date  of  October  i,  1903,  writes:  "Dr.  W.  S. 
Christopher  is  not  an  ordinary  man.  After  years  of  acquaintance  one  finds 
that  he  is  an  exhaustless  fountain  of  good  things.  One  may  know  him 
thoroughly,  and  yet  at  every  meeting  one  sees  something  new  in  Christopher. 
Dr.  Christopher  has  the  respect  of  the  medical  profession  everywhere  and 
is  widely  known.  He  is  not  satisfied  with  looking  into  the  ordinary  every- 
day pathology  of  Diseases  of  Children,  but  he  is  constantly  on  the  alert  for 
things  which  the  ordinary  man  does  not  see.  For  this  reason  he  has  some- 
times been  called  a_  'Faddist,'  but  this  cannot  be  applied  to  him,  for  he  is 
sure  to  look  with  a  common  sense  view  at  everything,  and  the  unique  things 
which  he  investigates,  he  adds  to  and  makes  fit  into  his  everyday  practice. 
He  has  done  much  for  the  growing  child,  and  especially  has  he  worked  in  a 
sensible  and  epoch-making  way  for  the  school  children  of  Chicago.  Dr. 
Christopher  has  a  charming  personality  and  a  host  of  friends  both  lay  and 
medical.  He  is  a  charming  companion  and  a  friend  upon  whom  one  can 
depend." 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  145 

SARAH  HACKETT  STEVENSON,  M.  D. 

For  many  years,  a  quarter,  of  a  century  at  least,  Dr.  Sarah  Hackett 
Stevenson  has  been  recognized  as  one  of  the  leaders  in  medical  thought  and 
activity  among  the  physicians  of  Chicago.  The  advantages  of  a  training 
in  the  biological  sciences  under  Huxley,  Darwin  and  other  eminent  teachers, 
a  privilege  enjoyed  by  few  American  physicians,  gave  Dr.  Stevenson  an  en- 
viable preparation  for  her  professional  career,  and  especially  qualified  her  to 
fill  the  Chair  of  Physiology  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  to  which  she 
was  called  in  1874,  later  filling  the  Chair  of  Obstetrics,  a  position  which  she 
practically  held  continuously  until  within  recent  years.  Dr.  Stevenson's 
work  in  connection  with  the  Woman's  Medical  College  has  without  doubt 
contributed  fully  as  much  as  that  of  any  other  person,  perhaps  we  may  justly 
say  more  than  any  other  individual's  labors,  to  the  development  of  progress 
in  medical  education,  and  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  to  which  she  has 
given  an  enormous  amount  of  time  and  earnest  effort,  has  kept  pace  with 
the  recent  developments  in  educational  methods  and  requirements.  Dr. 
Stevenson's  resignation  of  the  position  she  held  so  long  in  this  College  was 
prompted  by  her  settled  conviction  that  the  time  was  come  when  the  exist- 
ence of  separate  medical  schools  for  women  is  no  longer  a  necessity,  a  fact 
which  has  been  amply  demonstrated  by  the  experience  of  a  number  of  first 
class  medical  colleges  both  in  Chicago  and  elsewhere. 

Dr.  Stevenson  was  born  in  Ogle  county,  Illinois.  Her  paternal  ances- 
tors were  Scotch-Irish  from  Donegal,  Ireland.  Her  grandfather,  Charles 
Stevenson,  came  to  this  country  after  the  Irish  Rebellion  of  '98  in  which  he 
took  part.  He  purchased  large  tracts  of  land  in  and  near  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
and  also  in  Ogle  county,  Illinois.  His  eldest  son,  John  Davis  Stevenson, 
born  in  1805,  married  Sarah  Hackett,  of  Philadelphia,  a  descendant  of  one 
of  the  old  and  prominent  families  of  Philadelphia,  who  trace  their  ancestry 
back  to  Sir  Ralph  de  Hackett,  who  was  with  Richard  Coeur  de  Leon  in  the 
Crusades.  Several  generations  of  Hacketts  are  buried  in  the  old  St.  Peter's 
Churchyard.  The  name  of  Davis  belongs  to  the  paternal  grandmother,  the 
same  family  to  whom  "Patriot  Davis"  belongs.  Dr.  Stevenson  had  five 
brothers  and  one  sister :  Richard  graduated  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  and 
went  to  Nebraska,  where  he  became  a  member  of  the  first  Constitutional 
Convention.  He  and  another  brother,  Simon,  went  into  the  Union  army 
when  mere  boys.  Another  brother,  Charles,  became  an  officer  in  the  Con- 
federate army,  was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  is  buried  at 
Salem,  North  Carolina.  The  brothers  all  died  young,  but  the  sister,  Mrs. 
S.  A.  Schoop,  is  still  living  at  Norwood  Park,  Chicago. 

Dr.   Stevenson  first  attended  the  Mt.   Carroll   Seminary — then  entered 
10 


I46  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

the  State  Normal  at  Bloomington,  Illinois,  from  which  she  graduated  in 
1863,  and  later  took  her  degree  from  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  the 
Northwestern  University.  In  1874  she  went  to  Europe,  and  spent  two  years 
there  and  in  America  in  hospitals,  and  she  has  been  in  Europe  six  or  seven 
times  since  in  pursuit  of  her  studies.  Dr.  Stevenson  began  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  Chicago  in  1876. 

Dr.  Stevenson  is  the  author  of  a  work  on  Biology  for  beginners,  which 
was  published  by  Appleton,  and  has  an  extensive  sale,  now  being  used  as  a 
text-book  in  the  schools.  She  has  also  been  a  constant  contributor  to  medi- 
cal journals.  She  helped  to  found  the  Home  for  Incurables,  and  she  or- 
ganized the  Chicago  Maternity  Hospital,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  the  city. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association  held  at 
Philadelphia  in  1876,  Dr.  Stevenson's  name  was  presented  for  membership 
as  a  delegate  from  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  by  Dr.  William  H. 
Byford,  and  was  sustained  by  the  President  of  the  Association,  Dr.  Marion 
Simms,  and  Dr.  Eastman  of  Indianapolis,  she  thus  becoming  the  first  woman 
member  of  that  famous  association.  She  was  also  the  first  woman  appointed 
on  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and  the  first  woman  ever  placed  on  the  staff 
of  Cook  County  Hospital.  The  Woman's  Hospital  on  the  grounds  of  the 
World's  Fair,  where  3,000  cases  were  treated,  was  organized  by  her,  she 
being  president  of  the  staff. 

The  Doctor's  most  prominent  traits  of  character  are,  perhaps,  inde- 
pendence in  thought  and  action  and  her  love  of  truth  and  justice.  Though 
keenly  sensitive  to  public  opinion,  and  thoroughly  alive  to  the  value  of  favor- 
able popular  sentiment,  she  has  many  times  been  brought  into  circumstances 
where  she  deemed  it  necessary  to  take  an  uncompromising  stand  against  pub- 
lic prejudices  and  current  opinion  in  defense  of  what  she  believed  to  be  the 
principles  of  right  and  justice.  Her  clear  moral  vision  and  most  profound 
respect  and  love  for  truth  in  all  questions  relating  to  human  welfare,  and 
especially  in  questions  pertaining  to  the  emancipation  of  woman  and  the 
holding  up  of  better  ideals  of  womanhood,  have  often  brought  her  to  the 
front  as  a  fearless  and  unconquerable  champion  of  a  new  thought,  or  a  noble 
principle  struggling  for  recognition. 

Upon  one  occasion  in  which  a  discussion  arose  in  the  Chicago  Woman's 
Club,  involving  the  question  of  the  color  line,  she  made  such  an  eloquent  and 
effective  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  principles  of  universal  brotherhood  and  sis- 
terhood that  the  inbred  prejudices  of  the  aristocracy  of  Chicago  were  broken 
down,  and  for  the  first  time,  a  colored  woman,  educated,  cultivated  and  re- 
fined, but  truly  African  in  physiognomy  and  tint  of  skin,  was  welcomed  as  a 
member  into  that  most  select  circle  of  Chicago  women.  Those  who  had  the 
good  fortune  to  be  present  upon  that  occasion  declared  that  the  address 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  147 

delivered  impromptu  by  Dr.  Stevenson  could  scarcely  be  matched  for  genuine 
eloquence  by  any  utterance  ever  made  upon  the  question  of  civil  or  social 
freedom.  The  apparently  invincible  opposition  which  prejudice  had  raised 
was  utterly  swept  away  by  the  force  of  the  logic,  appealing  pathos,  and  the 
clear  portrayal  of  the  principles  of  justice  and  humanity  which  poured  forth 
spontaneously,  and  with  irresistible  earnestness,  from  the  soul  of  the  speaker, 
who  had  made  absolutely  no  preparation  for  the  effort,  and  today  cannot  re- 
call a  word  of  what  she  said.  But  a  noble  victory  was  gained  in  the  cause 
of  human  progress,  and  impressions  were  made  which  will  be  as  enduring 
as  the  everlasting  hills.  As  a  public  speaker  Dr.  Stevenson  has  few  superiors, 
and,  if  she  chose  to  do  so,  she  could  gain  national  reputation  as  a  platform 
speaker  upon  any  one  of  a  large  variety  of  the  burning  questions  of  the  day. 

Dr.  Stevenson,  herself,  broadminded  and  conscientious  to  an  unusual 
degree,  abhors  hypocrisy,  bigotry  and  narrowness,  having  not  the  slightest 
patience  with  cant  or  political  chicanery.  She  has  often  made  tremendous 
sacrifices  rather  than  condescend  to  gain  an  end,  or  to  maintain  a  position 
by  the  aid  of  those  political  and  compromising  methods  which  are  commonly 
termed  "tact."  The  love  of  truth  and  the  pursuit  of  truth  have  led  her  out- 
side of  the  limits  of  the  medical  profession  in  many  directions.  There  are 
probably  few  women  in  Chicago  who  have  been  connected  with  so  many 
different  lines  of  philanthropy  and  humanitarian  effort  during  the  last  quar- 
ter of  a  century  as  has  Dr.  Stevenson.  She-  has  thrown  her  whole  heart  and 
soul  into  these  enterprises,  and  constantly  to  the  neglect  of  personal  interests 
and  at  a  great  pecuniary  sacrifice.  This  element  of  her  character  is  well 
illustrated  in  the  generous  personal  aid  which  she  has  given  the  American 
Medical  Missionary  College,  and  other  purely  humanitarian  institutions  and 
efforts. 

Often  disappointed,  sometimes  misunderstood,  and  hence,  more  or  less 
actively  opposed,  she  has,  nevertheless,  by  straightforward  advocacy  of  right 
principles  and  the  sterling  defence  of  truth,  easily  maintained  her  place  at  the 
head  of  a  conspicuous  group  of  broad-minded,  public-spirited  Chicago  wo- 
men, who,  in  the  midst  of  a  perverse  and  wrong-headed  generation,  are  set- 
ting a  strong  tide  in  the  direction  of  betterment  and  reform,  by  holding  up 
before  their  sisters  the  highest  and  noblest  type  of  American  womanhood. 

Dr.  Henry  M.  Lyman  says  of  Dr.  Stevenson :  "Characterized  by  force 
of  character,  originality  of  thought,  and  great  industry,  more  than  any  one 
else  of  her  sex  she  has  aided  in  the  diffusion  of  accurate  knowledge  in  med- 
ical matters  among  the  feminine  portion  of  the  community  in  which  she 
resides." 

Dr.  John  Ridlon  pays  her  the  following  tribute:  "The  name  of  Sarah 
Hackett  Sevenson  stands  as  an  illuminated  initial  at  the  head  of  the  roster 


148  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

of  women  physicians  of  the  West.  For  more  years  than  it  would  be  gal- 
lant to  say,  Dr.  Stevenson  has  been  the  most  widely  known  of  the  women 
physicians  of  Illinois.  A  learned  physician,  a  cultured  woman,  an  untiring 
mind  interested  in  every  step  that  leads  to  the  advancement  of  women,  a 
commanding  presence,  taking  at  once  a  leading  place — medical,  political, 
social — over  and  above  all,  she  is  a  woman  generously  endowed  with  all  that 
charm  and  elevates." 

Dr.  John  Robison,  a  close  friend,  says  of  her:  "I  have  known  Dr. 
Sarah  Hackett  Stevenson  for  many  years,  and  the  acquaintance  has  con- 
firmed me  in  the  opinion  I  have  always  held,  that  the  field  of  medicine  opens 
up  a  grand  opportunity  for  a  brilliant  career  for  women.  Dr.  Stevenson's 
success  proves  this  proposition.  She  is  a  skilled  practitioner,  a  scholarly 
woman,  an  author,  a  well-known  traveler,  a  woman  who  is  self-reliant,  re- 
sourceful and  energetic,  as  well  as  a  leader  of  society.  She  is  ambitious,  but 
her  ambition  is  ennobling.  A  calm  exterior  conceals  a  sympathetic  heart, 
as  my  family  has  reason  to  know." 

Dr.  Stevenson  is  attending  physician  of  the  Mary  Thompson  Hospital 
for  Women  and  Children,  and  Dr.  Lucy  Waite,  a  member  of  the  same  staff, 
says  of  her :  "Dr.  Stevenson  is  a  brilliant  woman.  The  younger  members 
of  the  profession  value  her  professional  opinion  on  account  of  the  good  judg- 
ment and  common  sense  which  she  always  brings  to  the  bedside,  as  well  as 
for  the  years  of  experience  which  makes  a  consultation  with  her  of  real  bene- 
fit to  both  physician  and  patient." 


WILLIAM  GODFREY  DYAS.  M.  D.,  F.  R.  C.  S. 

William  Godfrey  Dyas  was  born  in  Dublin  November  4,  1807.  His 
father  was  William  Dyas,  of  Castle  Street,  Dublin,  but  the  family  is  purely 
of  Spanish  origin,  and  one  which  took  high  rank  among  the  noblesse  of 
Spain,  having  held  ducal  rank  in  the  north  of  that  country,  Burgos  Castle 
being  its  former  residence.  In  early  times,  owing  to  their  adherence  to  the 
Albigensian  faith,  the  members  of  this  family  became  subjects  of  perse- 
cution by  the  Romish  Church,  and  were  ultimately  compelled  to  flee  their 
country.  Landing  in  England,  they  received  the  protection  of  Elizabeth, 
then  the  reigning  sovereign.  Edward  Dyas,  the  head  of  the  family,  subse- 
quently entered  the  army  of  the  Commonwealth  under  Cromwell,  then  fight- 
ing in  Ireland.  For  his  valiant  services  performed  there  he  became  the 
recipient  of  various  grants  in  Ireland,  and  in  1690,  for  other  efficient  ser- 
vices at  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  further  grants  were  conferred  upon  the  Dyas 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  149 

family.  By  this  means  the  exiles  became  possessed  of  valuable  properties  and 
estates  located  in  Counties  Meath  and  Cavan. 

William  Godfrey  Dyas  was  of  the  fifth  generation  from  Edward  Dyas. 
When  in  his  sixteenth  year  he  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  and  thence 
was  transferred  to  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  where  he  graduated 
in  1830.  In  1832  he  received  the  appointment  of  the  Cholera  Hospital, 
County  Kildare,  which  was  under  the  supervision  of  the  government,  re- 
taining this  position  during  the  epidemic  of  that  year  and  until  the  closing 
of  the  hospital,  when  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  fever  hospital,  and  also 
three  dispensaries,  all  of  which  were  similarly  under  government  control. 
In  this  varied  and  extensive  field  of  practice  he  labored  assiduously  for  the 
period  of  twenty-five  years,  when,  on  the  approach  of  the  memorable  potato 
famine  and  its  final  consequences,  and  entire  prostration  of  all  activity,  he 
returned  to  Dublin,  and  was  appointed  Assistant  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy 
at  Trinity,  his  Alma  Mater,  acting  under  the  celebrated  Professor  Harrison, 
of  the  University.  His  extended  practice  in  Ireland,  and  his  position  in  the 
Dublin  University,  brought  him  into  contact  with  many  of  the  leading 
scientists,  surgeons  and  physicians  of  the  old  country,  and  from  this  associa- 
tion he  reaped  immeasurable  benefit  and  the  valuable  fruits  of  experience. 
At  the  expiration  of  a  year  passed  in  the  University,  Dr.  Dyas  came  to  Amer- 
ica, in  1856,  and  immediately  on  his  arrival  in  this  country  became  connected 
with  the  medical  journals,  to  which  he  afterward  contributed  many  articles 
of  acknowledged  merit.  In  July,  1859,  he  came  to  Chicago,  and  for  a  few 
months  acted  as  editor  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Journal,  under  the  late  Dr. 
Brainard;  ultimately,  however,  he  was  drawn  into  active  practice,  and  was 
continuously  occupied  in  attending  to  the  manifold  duties  attached  to  a  large 
and  ever  increasing  circle  of  patients. 

Dr.  Dyas  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  the  establishment  and  re- 
organization of  the  Woman's  Medical  College  of  Chicago,  and  was  elected 
President  of  that  admirable  institute  in  1873;  he  occupied  the  Chair  of 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine.  He  was  also  Consulting  Physician  of  the 
Woman's  and  Children's  Hospital,  and  Consulting  Surgeon  of  the 
Cook  County  Hospital,  both  of  which  positions  were  tendered  him 
by  the  appreciative  brethren  of  the  profession.  Dr.  Dyas  published  no 
volume  of  medical  works,  although,  in  addition  to  less  important  essays,  he 
was  engaged  for  several  years  carefully  preparing  a  collection  of  valuable 
facts  and  appropriate  matter,  which  unfortunately  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
together  with  a  choice  library  of  medical  and  other  works. 

Dr.  Dyas  was  married,  in  October,  1830,  to  Georgiana  Keating,  daugh- 
ter of  Rev.  George  Keating,  Vicar  of  Mostrim,  County  Longford,  Ireland, 
and  again  in  October,  1861,  to  Miranda  Sherwood,  of  Bridgeport,  Connec- 


I5o  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

ticut.  His  eldest  son,  George  K.  Dyas,  was  a  favorably  known  physician  hi 
Chicago.  Two  of  his  sons  are  members  of  the  Bar,  one  a  resident  practi- 
tioner of  Chicago,  the  other  of  Paris,  Illinois.  Dr.  William  Godfrey  Dyas 
was  killed  by  a  railroad  accident  at  Park  Manor,  a  suburb  of  Chicago,  in 
February,  1895. 


FRANCES  DICKINSON,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Frances  Dickinson,  President  of  Harvey  Medical  College,  Chicago, 
and  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  in  that  now  flourishing  institution,  is  one  of 
the  most  intelligent,  industrious  and  successful  women  practitioners  and 
teachers  of  medicine  in  this  country.  However,  it  is  not  alone  in  the  field  of 
her  profession  that  she  has  won  distinction.  Every  movement  for  the  benefit  of 
suffering  humanity,  for  the  advancement  of  her  sex,  for  the  uplifting  and 
enlightenment  of  the  race  in  general,  receives  her  sympathy  and  practical 
co-operation,  and  many  such  movements  have  been  set  on  foot  by  her  per- 
sonally or  through  her  influence.  The  spirit  of  broadness  which  prompted 
her  to  the  study  of  medicine — a  region  of  research  then  almost  forbidden  and 
comparatively  unknown  to  women — has  expanded  with  her  horizon  of  use- 
fulness, and  has  led  to  her  participation  in  numerous  activities  of  professional, 
philanthropical,  literary  and  social  interest.  She  is  counted  among  the  most 
gifted  of  the  many  noble  women  in  her  city  who  have  labored  so  zealously 
and  effectively  for  the  cause  of  woman's  work,  and  is  justly  honored  in  their 
ranks. 

Dr.  Dickinson  was  born  in  Chicago  January  19,  1856,  daughter  of  Al- 
bert Franklin  and  Ann  Eliza  (Anthony)  Dickinson,  and  received  her  early 
education  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city,  graduating  from  the  Central  High 
School  in  1875.  For  the  four  years  ensuing  she  was  engaged  as  a  teacher 
in  the  public  schools,  but  finding  the  scope  too  limited,  and  having  decided  to 
enter  the  medical  profession,  she  abandoned  her  first  work  for  the  broader 
field.  During  her  last  year  as  a  public-school  teacher  she  attended  a  course 
of  lectures  on  physiology  given  by  Dr.  Sarah  Hackett  Stevenson,  at  the 
Chicago  Woman's  Medical  College.  Her  original  purpose  was  to  qualify 
herself  to  give  instruction  in  that  branch.  A  glimpse  into  the  possibilities 
of  the  future  determined  her  to  take  a  complete  course  in  medicine,  and  in 
this  respect  she  had  an  advantage  over  many  who  have  entered  untried  fields, 
receiving  the  warmest  encouragement  and  support  from  the  members  of  her 
family,  who  made  it  possible  for  her  to  begin  at  once.  Accordingly,  in  1880, 
she  matriculated  at  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  in  Chicago,  where  she 
took  the  full  course,  and  proved  an  earnest  student,  graduating  in  1883,  with 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  151 

honors.  She  served  as  Interne  in  the  Women's  and  Children's  Hospital,  un- 
der Dr.  Mary  Harris  Thompson.  Having  meanwhile  resolved  to  make  a 
specialty  of  Ophthalmology,  she  took  the  course  in  that  branch  at  the  Illinois 
State  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  Chicago.  With  the  thoroughness  characteristic 
of  her  work  in  every  line,  Dr.  Dickinson  concluded  to  prosecute  her  studies 
still  farther  before  entering  upon  independent  practice,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1883  she  went  abroad  with  her  brother,  spending  fourteen  delightful  months 
as  student  and  tourist  in  Scotland,  England,  France,  Algiers,  Tunis,  Sicily, 
Switzerland  and  Germany.  In  London  she  had  the  advantage  of  study  under 
the  celebrated  surgeon,  Dr.  Cooper,  in  the  Royal  Ophthalmic  Hospital  at 
Moorfields,  and  also  attended  the  ophthalmic  clinics  at  the  Royal  Free  Hospi- 
tal, in  Gray's  Inn  Road.  While  in  Darmstadt,  Germany,  she  was.  for  five 
months,  under  the  private  tutorship  of  Dr.  Adolph  Weber,  who  had  a  large 
private  clinic  and  hospital  of  sixty  beds  attached  to  his  home.  This  was  the 
Dr.  Weber  to  whom  Von  Graefe,  the  "father  of  Ophthalmology,"  willed  his 
instruments,  and  under  so  devoted  a  teacher  she  could  hardly  have  failed  to 
receive  lasting  benefit  and  inspiration. 

Since  her  return  to  Chicago  Dr.  Dickinson  has  been  actively  and  suc- 
cessfully engaged  in  the  practice  of  her  chosen  calling,  in  which  she  gained 
prominence  within  a  brief  period,  and  she  is  considered  the  leading  woman 
practitioner  in  her  specialty  in  the  West.  At  one  time  she  enjoyed  the  dis- 
tinction of  being  the  only  woman  engaged  as  post-graduate  instructor  in 
Ophthalmology,  filling  that  chair  in  the  Chicago  Post-Graduate  School  of 
Medicine.  For  some  time  she  was  Secretary  of  Harvey  Medical  College,  of 
which  she  is  now  President,  and  where  she  also  fills  the  Chair  of  Ophthal- 
mology. The  institution  is  co-educational. 

Dr.  Dickinson  is  an  active  and  honored  member  of  the  City  and  State 
Medical  Societies,  and  of  the  American  Medical  Association ;  of  the  Chicago 
Ophthalmological  Society ;  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science;  and  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences.  She  was  the  first  woman 
received  into  the  International  Medical  Congress,  in  which  she  was  admitted 
to  membership  at  its  ninth  convention,  held  in  1887,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 
Since  that  year  women  have  not  been  denied  membership,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  congresses  have  been  held  in  foreign  cities  where  women  are  not 
allowed  equal  privileges  with  men  at  the  universities. 

Apart  from  the  fact  that  she  is  one  of  the  leading  oculists  of  the  West, 
Dr.  Dickinson  is  entitled  to  rank  among  the  progressive  women  of  the  day 
for  intellectual  vigor  displayed  in  her  association  with  various  good  works. 
Her  many  philanthropic  interests  receive  the  same  attention  as  she  bestows 
upon  her  regular  professional  work,  and  it  is  no  doubt  this  unselfish  devotion 
to  the  welfare  of  humanity  in  general,  this  disinterested  labor  in  behalf  of 


1 52  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

so  many  good  objects,  that  has  contributed  to  her  popularity  in  her  home  city 
and  made  her  name  respected  and  beloved  in  many  circles.  Dr.  Dickinson  has 
never  failed  to  avail  herself  of  the  many  opportunities  offered  in  her  chosen 
profession  for  benevolence  and  charity — whether  the  circumstances  called  for 
the  broad  sympathy  so  essential  to  real  success  as  a  physician,  or  the  practi- 
cal help  which  means  so  much  to  the  unfortunate  poor.  She  has  always  been 
a  devout  believer  in  the  merits  of  the  Christian  faith  and  the  application  of  its 
principles  to  the  daily  life.  In  her  youth  she  was  associated  with  the  Metho- 
dists, being  one  of  the  active  workers  in  the  Centenary  M.  E.  Church. 

During  the  Columbian  Exposition  Dr.  Dickinson  was  a  member  of  the 
board  of  lady  managers,  and  was  indefatigable  in  her  efforts  in  that  con- 
nection. She  and  Dr.  Lucy  Waite,  the  well-known  woman  surgeon,  were  the 
originators  of  the  Queen  Isabella  Association,  which  was  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  commemorating  the  labors  of  Queen  Isabella  in  assisting  and  en- 
couraging Columbus.  The  material  result  of  their  work  is  the  beautiful 
statue  executed  by  Harriet  G.  Hosmer.  Dr.  Dickinson  and  Dr.  Waite  were 
also  associated  in  another  work  of  much  practical  benefit.  At  the  time  of 
the  Johnstown  floods  they  formed  the  first  medical  union  composed  of  women 
of  the  various  schools  of  medicine — the  Illinois  Medical  Women's  Sanitary 
Association — which  immediately  sent  Dr.  Kate  Bushnell,  Dr.  Alice  Ewing, 
and  later  Dr.  Rachel  Hickey,  to  the  scene  of  the  disaster.  They  were  among 
the  first  on  the  ground  to  commence  the  work  of  relief,  and  remained  there 
seven  weeks  in  the  prosecution  of  their  noble  purpose. 

Dr.  Dickinson  doubtless  inherits  many  of  the  traits  which  have  made 
her  famous  from  a  line  of  sturdy,  intelligent  ancestors  on  both  maternal  and 
paternal  sides.  Many  of  her  maternal  ancestors  were  physicians,  and  in  the 
paternal  line  are  found  a  number  of  schoolmasters ;  and  in  both  lines  we  find 
them  frequently  being  honored  with  and  honoring  public  office.  The  Dickin- 
sons came  originally  from  Wales.  The  Doctor's  grandfather,  Samuel  Dickin- 
son, was  the  schoolmaster  in  his  town,  and  one  of  the  selectmen.  Her  father, 
Albert  F.  Dickinson,  was  a  prominent  business  man  in  Chicago  for  many 
years,  and  from  him  the  Doctor  received  every  encouragement  when  she  an- 
nounced her  intention  of  adopting  a  profession  for  which  he  deemed  women 
especially  fitted.  He  was  a  man  of  broad  character  and  wide  sympathies. 
His  wife,  Ann  Eliza  Anthony,  like  himself  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  was  a 
woman  of  fine  character  and  strong  personality,  and,  in  a  quiet  way,  was 
quite  active  in  charitable  work  in  her  early  home  and,  later,  in  the  city  of 
Chicago.  She  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  First  Society  of  Friends  in  that 
city.  She  was  an  aunt  of  the  famous  woman  suffragist,  Susan  B.  Anthony. 

The  first  of  the  Anthony  family  of  whom  there  is  any  record  is  William 
Anthony,  who  was  born  in  Cologne,  Germany,  came  to  England  during  the 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  153 

reign  of  Edward  VI,  and  was  made  Chief  Graver  of  the  Royal  Mint  and 
Master  of  the  Scales,  continuing  to  hold  that  office  through  the  reigns  of  that 
monarch  and  Mary,  and  part  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  His  crest  and  coat 
of  arms  are  entered  in  the  royal  enumeration.  Dr.  Dickinson's  line  is  traced 
throngh  his  son  Derrick,  who  was  the  father  of  Dr.  Francis  Anthony,  born 
in  London  in  1550.  He  was  graduated  at  Cambridge  with  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts,  and  became  famous  as  a  physician  and  chemist.  He  was  a 
man  of  high  character  and  generous  impulses,  but  he  was  intolerant  of  re- 
straint and  in  continual  conflict  with  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons. 
He  died  in  his  seventy- fourth  year,  and  was  buried  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Bartholomew  the  Great,  where  his  handsome  monument  is  still  to  be  seen. 
Dr.  Anthony  left  a  daughter  and  two  sons,  both  of  whom  became  distin- 
guished as  physicians,  and  John,  the  elder,  founded  the  American  branch  of 
the  family.  His  son,  John  Anthony,  Jr.,  born  in  Hempstead,  England, 
sailed  for  America  in  the  ship  "Hercules"  April  16,  1634,  when  twenty- 
seven  years  old.  He  settled  in  Portsmouth,  Rhode  Island,  where  he  was  a 
landowner,  innkeeper  and  one  of  the  public  officials.  His  family  consisted 
of  five  children,  who  left  forty-three  children,  among  whom  was  Abraham, 
the  next  in  the  line  of  descent.  Abraham  Anthony  had  thirteen  children,  one 
of  whom,  William  Anthony,  Jr.,  had  four  children,  among  whom  was  David. 
David  married  Judith  Hicks,  and  they  moved  from  Dartmouth,  Massachu- 
setts, to  Berkshire,  same  State,  settling  near  the  Adams  foot  of  Greylock 
mountain.  They  had  a  family  of  nine  children,  of  whom  Humphrey  An- 
thony, the  second  son,  born  February  2,  1770,  at  Dartmouth,  Massachusetts, 
was  the  father  of  Ann  Eliza  Anthony,  mother  of  Dr.  Dickinson.  The  Doc- 
tor's parents  are  both  deceased,  her  father  passing  away  in  1881.  Besides 
the  Doctor  there  are  living  two  sisters,  Hannah  (Mrs.  Charles  C.  Boyles) 
and  Melissa,  and  three  brothers,  Albert,  Nathan  and  Charles.  The  brothers 
developed  The  Albert  Dickinson  Company  of  Chicago,  which  is  the  leading 
firm  dealing  in  grass  seeds  the  world  over.  This  unique  and  extensive  busi- 
ness further  exemplifies  the  organizing  ability  of  the  Doctor's  family. 

Perhaps  we  can  close  this  article  in  no  more  befitting  manner  than  by 
giving  the  testimonial  of  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  of  Chicago,  to  the  worth  of 
this  noble  woman : 

"Dr.  Frances  Dickinson,  President  and  Professor  of  Ophthalmology 
in  Harvey  Medical  College  in  this  city,  is  one  of  the  most  industrious,  intelli- 
gent and  successful  female  practitioners  and  teachers  of  medicine  in  this 
country;  and  is  recognized  as  an  active  and  honorable  member  of  the  City, 
State  and  National  Medical  Associations.  Yours,  etc., 

"N.  S.  DAVIS. 
"Chicago,  Illinois,  January  16,  1903." 


i54  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 


fiurLtjtA+i   ^  (si+dE^tHj&ryA    t^ 


-4  /t*As\itJt    6-4 


Cf  -h- 


HENRY  T.  BYFORD,  M.  D. 

Henry  T.  Byford,  the  distinguished  son  of  an  eminent  father,  was  born 
at  Evansville,  Indiana,  November  12,  1853.  His  family  relations,  both 
lineal  and  collateral,  have  been  set  forth  with  some  detail  in  the  biography  of 
his  father,  Dr.  William  Heath  Byford,  which  appears  on  another  page.  He 
was  educated  at  the  Chicago  public  schools,  at  Williston  Seminary,  East 
Hampton,  Massachusetts,  at  a  high  school  at  Berlin,  Germany,  and  at  the 
old  Chicago  University. 

Himself  the  son  and  grandson  of  a  physician,  it  would  have  been  strange 
had  Henry  T.  Byford  felt  a  vocation  for  any  other,  walk  in  life,  and  he  began 
the  study  of  medicine  with  his  father  in  Chicago,  in  1870.  He  attended  three 
courses  of  lectures  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  which  institution  is  now 
affiliated  with  the  Northwestern  University,  graduating  as  valedictorian  of 
the  class  of  1873,  when  but  nineteen  years  of  age.  He  served  a  term  as 
House  Surgeon  in  Mercy  Hospital.  Being  too  young  to  receive  a  license  to 
practice  in  Illinois,  he  spent  a  year  in  travel  in  Colorado  and  Louisiana  with 
an  invalid  brother.  He  again  returned  to  Chicago,  where  he  has  since  resided 
and  where  he  has  gained  imperishable  fame.  His  career  proved  brilliant  from 
the  outset,  but  in  1879  a  severe  attack  of  sciatica  warned  him  that  over- 
work had  impaired  his  health,  and  that  a  period  of  rest  was  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  accomplishment  of  those  great  results  upon  which  he  had  fixed 


J    H    BEER9  I    CD. 


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PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  155 

his  hopes.  After  a  year  and  a  half  spent  in  foreign  travel  he  resumed  general 
practice,  but  he  would  have  scarcely  proved  true  to  paternal  tradition  and 
training  had  the  natural  bent  of  his  mind  failed  to  incline  toward  gynecology. 
Gradually  he  separated  himself  from  every  line  of  work  that  might  interfere 
with  success  in  his  chosen  field.  Earnestly  and  steadily  he  has  devoted  himself 
to  the  theoretical  and  practical  study  of  his  specialty,  until  to-day  he  stands 
in  the  very  foremost  rank  of  gynecologists,  his  fame  extending  over  two 
continents.  Among  the  operations  with  which  his  name  is  associated  is  the 
method  of  vaginal  drainage  of  the  stump  and  vaginal  fixation  of  the  stump 
in  abdominal  hysterectomy.  He  revived  vaginal  oophorectomy  in  America 
in  1888.  He  was  also  the  first  in  the  United  States,  in  1887,  to  shorten  the 
sacro-uterine  ligaments  for  retroversion  of  the  uterus ;  and  in  the  same  year 
was  the  first  to  advocate  the  removal  of  lateral  strips  of  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  anterior  vaginal  wall  for  cystocele.  In  1885  he  wrote  a  brochure 
advocating  the  preservation,  when  possible,  of  the  foetal  membranes  until  they 
protruded  at  the  vulva.  Dr.  Byford  has  also  brought  his  ripe  learning  and 
broad  experience  to  bear  in  the  devising  of  various  instruments  for  the  use 
of  the  gynecological  surgeon,  among  which  are  broad  ligament  forceps  for 
use  in  vaginal  hysterectomy ;  a  hysterectomy  clamp,  for  vaginal  fixation  of 
the  stump;  a  uterine  curette,  uterine  scarificator,  uterine  repositor,  fascia 
scissors,  self-retaining  drainage  tubes,  uterine  dilators,  etc. 

The  Doctor  is  an  honored  member  of  many  medical  societies,  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  He  is  prominently  connected  with  the  American  and 
British  Gynecological  Societies,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Interna- 
tional Congress  of  Gynecology,  as  well  as  of  the  Chicago  Gynecological  So- 
ciety, having  been  president  of  the  last  named  organization  in  1889.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Illinois  State  Med- 
ical Society,  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  the  Chicago  Medico-Legal  Society, 
the  Chicago  Academy  of  Medicine,  the  Southern  Surgical  and  Gynecological 
Association,  the  Western  Surgical  and  Gynecological  Association,  the  Tri- 
State  Medical  Association,  etc. 

Dr.  Byford  was  Lecturer  on  the  Diseases  of  Children  in  the  Chicago 
Medical  College  in  1877;  Lecturer  on  Obstetrics  at  Rush  Medical  College  in 
1889;  has  been  Professor  of  Gynecology  and  Clinical  Gynecology  since  1892, 
at  the  Chicago  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  (now  a  department  of 
the  University  of  Illinois)  ;  Professor  of  Clinical  Gynecology  at  the  North- 
western University  Woman's  Medical  School  from  1890  until  its 
end,  in  1902;  Professor  of  Gynecology  and  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  Post  Graduate  Medical  School  and  Hospital  of  Chicago ; 
Surgeon  to  the  Woman's  Hospital  since  1883;  and  is  Consulting 
Gynecologist  to  various  hospitals.  Few  men  of  his  age  have  at- 


156  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

tained  as  high  distinction,  and  it  may  be  added,  without  fear  of  successful 
contradiction,  none  have  more  richly  merited  it.  Among  the  most  cherished 
memories  of  Dr.  Byford's  life  are  his  recollections  of  his  father,  whom  he 
holds  in  tender  loving  reverence.  On  the  fifth  anniversary  of  his  father's 
death  he  presented  to  Rush  Medical  College,  on  behalf  of  the  children  of  Dr. 
William  H.  Byford,  a  bust  of  that  great  man,  moulded  in  clay  by  Lorado  Taft 
and  cast  in  bronze. 

Dr.  Byford  finds  relaxation  from  his  professional  labors  in  the  study  of 
literature  and  art.  He  is  an  amateur  water-color  artist  of  talent  and  skill, 
having  been  a  student  under  Julien,  of  Paris.  In  1882  he  married  Mrs. 
Lucy  (Lamed)  Richard,  and  four  children  have  blessed  their  union: 
Genevieve,  Mary,  Heath  Turman  and  William  Holland. 

Dr.  Byford  has  written  much,  but  always  well;  sometimes  in  conjunction 
with  others,  but  more  commonly  presenting  the  result  of  his  own  individual 
study,  experiment  and  research.  He  has  written  a  Manual  of  Gynecology 
that  has  already  passed  through  three  editions.  His  name  is  associated  with 
that  of  his  father  in  the  authorship  of  the  last  edition  of  their  great  work  on 
"Diseases  of  Women."  He  is  also  one  of  the  authors  of  the  "American  Text 
Book  of  Gynecology,"  published  in  1894  in  Philadelphia  and  London;  also 
of  Keating  &  Coe's  "Clinical  Gynecology"  (1894);  and  has  been  associate 
editor  of  Sajons'  Annual.  He  has  also  been  a  frequent  contributor  to  periodi- 
cal medical  literature.  The  following  is  a  list  of  his  published  writings : 

Byford,  Henry  Turman — (i)  "Function  of  the  Membrane  during  La- 
bor," Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  March,  1885,  Transactions, 
Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  February  20,  1885.  (2)  "Report  of  a  Case 
of  Leio-Lyoma  of  Vagina  and  Uterus,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Exam- 
iner, July,  1885,  Transactions,  Chicago  Gynecological  Society.  (3)  "The 
Treatment  of  Infant  Eczema  and  Allied  Eruptions,"  Journal  American  Med- 
ical Association,  September  19,  1885,  Transactions,  Chicago  Medical  So- 
ciety. (4)  "Nervous  Paroxysm,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association, 
November  21,  1885,  Transactions,  Chicago  Medical  Society.  (5)  "Report  of 
a  Case  of  Pelvic  Abscess,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  January, 
1886,  Transactions,  Chicago  Gynecological  Society.  (6)  "Production  and 
Prevention  of  Perineal  Laceration  during  Labor,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  March  6,  1886,  Transactions,  Chicago  Medical  Society.  (7) 
"A  Study  of  The  Causes  and  Treatment  of  Pelvic  Hematocele,"  June  18, 
1886,  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  Vol.  XIX,  November,  1886.  (8) 
"Preservation  des  Membranes  durant  la  deuxieme  periode  du  Travail," 
Annales  d'  Obstetrique  et  de  Gynecologie,  Paris,  August,  1886.  (9)  "Me- 
chanical Treatment  of  Retroversion  of  the  Uterus,"  Journal  American  Med- 
ical Association,  August  7,  1886.  (10)  Byford,  William  Heath  and  Henry 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  157 

Turman — "The  Practice  of  Medicine  and  Surgery  as  Applied  to  the  Diseases 
and  Accidents  Incident  to  Women,"  fourth  edition,  Philadelphia,  Pennsyl- 
vania, P.  Blakiston  Sons  &  Co.,  1888.  (n)  "The  Operative  Treatment  of 
Retroversion,  Alexander's  Operation,"  a  clinical  lecture  delivered  at  St. 
Luke's  Hospital  in  March,  1888;  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion, March  24,  1888.  (12)  "Removal  of  the  Uterine  Appendages  and 
Small  Ovarian  Tumors  by  Vaginal  Section,  with  a  Report  of  Twelve  Suc- 
cessful Cases,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  March,  1888; 
American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  etc.,  Vol.  XXI,  September,  1888.  (13) 
"The  So-called  Physiological  Argument  in  Obstetrics,"  American  Journal  of 
Obstetrics,  September,  1888.  (14)  "Twelve  Months  of  Abdominal  and 
Vaginal  Section,"  Presidential  Address  delivered  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of 
the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  October  19,  1888;  Chicago  Medical  Jour- 
nal and  Examiner,  November,  1888.  (15)  "A  Case  of  Ureteritis,"  North 
American  Practitioner,  Chicago,  January,  1889.  (16)  "The  Treatment  of 
Retroversion  of  the  Uterus  by  Operative  Methods,  Laparo-Hysterrorrhaphy," 
North  American  Practitioner,  February,  1889.  (17)  "Inguinal  Suspension 
of  the  Bladder,"  Clinical  Lecture  delivered  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  February 
13,  1889,  North  American  Practitioner,  Chicago,  June,  1889.  (18)  "Vaginal 
Hysterectomy,"  read  before  the  Thirty-ninth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Illi- 
nois State  Medical  Society,  May,  1889,  at  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  Transactions 
of  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  1889.  (19)  "A  New  Method  of  Treating 
the  Stump  in  Abdominal  Hysterectomy,"  read  before  the  American  Gyne- 
cological Society,  September,  1889.  Transactions  of  the  American  Gyneco- 
logical Society,  1889.  (20)  "Three  Peritoneal  Sections  Performed  upon  the 
Same  Patient  within  Nine  Months ;  Vaginal  Section,  Abdominal  Section,  and 
Inguinal  Section,"  North  American  Practitioner,  Chicago,  January,  1890. 
(21)  "The  Cure  of  Cystocele  by  Inguinal  Suspension  of  the  Bladder,"  read 
before  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  January,  1890;  American  Journal 
of  Obstetrics,  etc.,  Vol.  XXIII,  No.  2,  1890.  (22)  "Another  Twelve  Months 
of  Peritoneal  Surgery,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  Feb- 
ruary, 1890;  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  March  15,  1890.  (23) 
A  clinical  lecture  delivered  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  March  26,  1890,  Journal 
of  the  American  Medical  Association,  October  4,  1890.  (24)  Clinical  Lecture 
on  the  "Cure  of  Procidentia  Uteri,"  delivered  October  20,  1890,  at  St.  Luke's 
Hospital;  Medical  Neivs,  December  13,  1890.  (25)  "Laceration  of  the 
Parturient  Canal,"  1890,  read  before  the  Kalamazoo  Academy  of  Medicine, 
1890;  The  Physician  &  Surgeon,  Detroit,  February,  1891.  (26)  "Urethri- 
tis;  Dilatation  of  the  Urethra;  Sounding  of  the  Ureters;  Anterior  Col- 
porrhaphy ;  A  New  Method  of  Performing  Lateral  Elytrorrhaphy,"  a  Clinical 
Lecture  delivered  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital;  International  Clinics,  April,  1891. 


i S8  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

(27)  "Third   Series   of   Peritoneal    Sections.      Comparative   Study  of   one 
Hundred  and  fifty-nine  Consecutive  Cases,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Gyne- 
cological Society,  April  17,  1891 ;  Netv  York  Medical  Record,  May  9,  1891. 

(28)  "Extra-Uterine  Pregnancy  Occurring  Twice  in   the   Same   Patient," 
North  American  Practitioner,  Chicago,  June,  1891.     (29)  "The  Technic  of 
Vaginal  Fixation  of  the  Stump  in  Abdominal  Hysterectomy,"  read  before  the 
American   Gynecological   Society,     September,     1890;    Transactions   of   the 
American  Gynecological  Society,  1891.     (30)  "Cases  of  Extra-Uterine  Preg- 
nancy ;  Abdominal  Section ;  Remarks  upon  the  Treatment/'  read  before  the 
Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  September,  1891;  American  Journal  of  Ob- 
stetrics, etc.,  Vol.  XXIV,  No.  2,  1891.     (31)  "Abdominal  Hysterectomy  for 
Intraligamentous   Fibroid   Tumor ;     Enucleation ;    Vaginal    Fixation   of   the 
Stump,"  a  Clinical  Lecture  delivered  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  1891.    Interna- 
tional Clinics,  October,  1891.     (32)  "Unusual  Cases  of  Abdominal  Section," 
read  before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  December  7,  1891 ;  Chicago  Medical 
Recorder,  January,   1892.      (33)    "A  Case  of  Abscess  of  the  Gall-bladder 
treated  by  Abdominal  Section,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Gynecological  So- 
ciety, December  7,   1891 ;  American  Gynecological  Journal,  January,   1892. 
(34)   "Vaginal  Oophorectomy,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Gynecological  So- 
ciety, December  18,  1891;  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  Vol.  XXV,  No. 
3,  1892.     (35)   "Two  Fetuses  removed  from  the  Peritoneal  Cavity  at  one 
operation,"  1892;  Transactions  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  1892.      (36) 
"Difficult  Abdominal  Sections,"  1893,  clinical  lecture  delivered  at  St.  Luke's 
Hospital,  1892;  International  Clinics,  1893.     (37)  "Posterior  Colporrhaphy ; 
Tait's  Perineorrhaphy ;  Inguinal  Colporrhaphy,"  1893,  clinical  lecture  deliv- 
ered at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  1893;  International  Clinics,  1893,  Vol.  II,  Third 
Series.     (38)   "The  Essentials  of  Success  in  Vaginal  Hysterectomy,"  1893, 
read  before  the  American  Medical  Association,  1893;  Journal  American  Med- 
ical Association,  1893.     (39)  "Obituary  of  A.  Reeves  Jackson,  M.  D.,"  1893, 
Transactions  American  Gynecological  Society,  1893.     (4°)  "The  Treatment 
of  Uterine  Fibroids,"   1893,  read  before  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society, 
1893.     (41)  Clinical  Lecture  on  "Vaginal  Oophorectomy,"  delivered  at  St. 
Luke's  Hospital,   1892;  International  Clinics,  1893,  Vol.  Ill,  Third  Series, 
page  272.     (42)  "Two  cases  of  Abdominal  Section;  (i)  Pyosalpinx;  Intra- 
peritoneal  Abscess;  Encysted  Peritonitis  simulating  so-called  Urachal  Cyst; 
(2)  Hydrosalpinx ;  Hematoma  of  Ovary;  Tubo-ovarian  Cyst,"  clinical  lec- 
ture delivered  before  the  Post-Graduate  Medical  School,  etc. ;  Denver  Medical 
Times,  1893.      (43)   "The  Best  Method  of  Performing  Trachelorrhaphy," 
Chicago   Clinical  Rez'ieiv,  December,    1893.      (44)    "Appendicitis,"   Kansas 
City  Medical  Reviezv,    1893.      (45)    "In   Memoriam,   Char1."?    Warrington 
Earle,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  Av>v'        ,   1894;  Ab- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  159 

stract  in  Transactions,  1894.  (46)  Clinical  Lecture  on  "Trachelorrhaphy  and 
Adhesions  of  the  Retroverted  Uterus,"  delivered  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital ;  In- 
ternational Clinics,  Vol.  I;  Fourth  Series,  1894.  (47)  Clinical  Lecture  on 
"Prolapse  of  the  Uterus — Alexander's  Operation ;  Abdominal  Section  for  the 
Removal  of  Parovarian  Cyst,"  delivered  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital;  Interna- 
tional Clinics,  Vol.  II,  Fourth  Series,  1894.  (48)  "Choice  of  Radical  Opera- 
tions for  the  Care  of  Uterine  Fibroids,"  Transactions  of  Illinois  State  Medical 
Society,  1894,  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  1894.  (49)  Collaboration  of 
American  Text  Book  of  Gynecology,  1894,  W.  B.  Saunders,  Philadelphia, 
edited  by  J.  M.  Baldy;  8vo,  pp.  713,  illustrated.  (50)  "Inflammatory  Lesions 
of  the  Pelvic  Peritoneum  and  Connective  Tissue,"  Clinical  Gynecology  by 
Keating  &  Co.,  1895;  J-  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.,  Philadelphia.  (51)  Manual  of 
Gynecology,  1895,  P.  Blakiston  Sons  &  Co.,  Philadelphia;  i2mo,  pp.  488, 
illustrated.  (52)  Clinical  Lecture  on  "Oophorectomy  and  Uterine  Curettage 
upon  the  same  Patient.  Interstitial  Salpingitis.  Hematoma  of  the  Ovary 
and  Pelvic  Peritonitis,"  delivered  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital;  Journal  American 
Medical  Association,  April  7,  1894.  (53)  Clinical  Lecture  on  "Hysterectomy 
in  Inflammatory  Disease,"  International  Clinics,  1896,  Vol.  LV,  Fifth  Series. 
(54)  "The  Microbic  Origin  of  Fibroid  and  Other  Benign  Tumors,"  North 
American  Practitioner,  February,  1895.  (55)  "Operations  for  Retrover- 
sion,"  clinical  lecture,  Medicine,  February,  1896.  (56)  "Drainage  in  Peri- 
toneal Surgery,"  American  Journal  of  Gynecology  and  Obstetrics,  March, 
1896.  (57)  "The  Romantic  Side  of  Abdominal  Hysterectomy,"  The  P.  & 
S.  Plexus  (College  of  Physicians  &  Surgeons),  March,  1896.  (58)  "An- 
terior Suspension  of  the  Uterus  and  Shortening  of  the  Round  Ligaments  by 
Vaginal  Section,"  Chicago  Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Journal,  June, 
1896.  (59)  "Vaginal  Section  for  the  Cure  of  Retroversion  of  the  Uterus," 
read  before  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  May,  1896;  Medical  News, 
October  31,  1896.  (60)  "Drainage  of  the  Stump  in  Abdominal  Hysterec- 
tomy," Transactions  of  the  American  Gynecological  Society,  1896.  (61) 
"How  Gynecology  Should  be  Taught,"  The  Medical  Fortnightly,  June  i, 
1896.  (62)  "Extirpation  of  the  Rectum  through  the  Vagina,"  Annals  of 
Surgery,  November,  1896.  (63)  "Shortening  the  Round  Ligaments  by 
Vaginal  Section  in  Connection  with  Cysto-Hysterorrhaphy,"  Transactions  of 
International  Periodical  Congress  of  Gynecology  and  Obstetrics,  Geneva, 
1896.  (64)  "The  Present  Status  of  Vaginal  Section,  with  Record  of  Per- 
sonal Experience,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  April  24,  1897. 
(65)  "Shall  the  Uterus  be  Removed  when  the  Ovaries  are  Taken  Out  for 
Inflammatory  Disease?"  Denver  Medical  Times,  July,  1897.  (66)  "A  Der- 
moid  Tumor  Weighing  over  Seventy  Pounds,"  Western  Medical  Review, 
March  15,  1898.  (67)  "Lessons  from  Experience  in  Abdominal  Surgery," 


160  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Occidental  Medical  Times,  May,  1898.  (68)  "An  Improvement  in  the 
Technic  of  the  After-treatment  of  Peritoneal  Section,"  Transactions  Illinois 
State  Medical  Society,  1888;  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  Vol. 
XXXVIII,  No.  i.  (69)  "How  to  Prepare  the  Hands  for  an  Operation, 
TIte  American  Journal  of  Surgery  and  Gynecology,  November,  1898.  (70) 
"The  Remote  Results  of  Shortening  the  Round  Ligaments  by  Vagi- 
nal Section."  Transactions  American  Gynecological  Society,  1899.  The 
American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  etc.,  Vol.  XL,  No.  i,  1899.  (71) 
"Treatment  of  Hemorrhoids  by  the  Plastic  Method,"  Chicago  Medical 
Recorder,  March,  1899.  (72)  "The  Intestinal  Treatment  of  Tuberculous 
Peritonitis,"  Annals  <ff  Surgery,  September,  1899.  (73)  "Criminal  Abor- 
tion," Western  Medical  Review,  July  15,  1899.  (74)  "The  After-Treatment 
of  Peritoneal  Section,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  De- 
cember 15,  1899.  (75)  "The  Rest  Cure  Without  Rest,"  The  P.  &  S.  Plexus, 
February,  1900.  (76)  "An  Improvement  in  the  Technique  of  the  After- 
Treatment  of  Peritoneal  Section,"  Transactions,  Illinois  State  Medical  So- 
ciety, 1898;  The  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  Vol.  XXXVIII,  No.  i, 
1898.  (77)  "Prolapse  and  Procidentia  of  the  Uterus,"  read  before  the  Amer- 
ican Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Society,  May  30,  1901 ;  The  American 
Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Journal,  July,  1901.  (78)  "Conservative 
Operations  upon  the  Uterine  Adnexa,"  The  Medical  News,  October  5,  1901. 
(79)  "Treatment  of  Prolapse  and  Procidentia  of  the  Uterus"  (Spanish), 
Transactions,  Third  Pan-American  Medical  Congress,  Havana,  1901.  (80) 
"A  New  Method  of  Shortening  the  Round  Ligaments  Intraperitoneally  for 
Retroversion,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  May  2,  1903;  Trans- 
actions, Western  Surgical  and  Gynecological  Association.  (81)  "Spurious 
Dysmenorrhoea,"  Transactions,  Southern  Surgical  and  Gynecological  So- 
ciety, 1903;  American  Gynecology,  1904. 


JOHN  ALBERT  ROBISON,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

John  Albert  Robison,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  of  Chicago,  Illinois,  was  born 
July  26,  1855,  at  Richmond,  Indiana.  The  family  is  of  Scotch  descent. 
The  Doctor's  father,  William  Alexander  Robison,  was  born  in  Kentucky,  and 
his  grandfather,  John  Robertson  (as  he  spelled  the  name),  was  also  a  native 
of  that  State,  and  was  a  farmer  by  occupation.  After  his  death  his  widow 
married  a  Breckenridge,  a  cousin  of  General  Breckenridge.  William  Alex- 
ander Robison  early  learned  the  cabinet  maker's  trade,  but  he  engaged  in 
contracting  and  building.  He  was  also  the  inventor  of  many  labor-saving 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  161 

machines,  among  which  was  the  first  tongueless  cultivator,  as  well  as  wood- 
working machines  of  various  kinds.  For  years  he  was  connected  as  foreman 
with  the  Weir  Plow  Company,  of  Monmouth,  Illinois.  He  was  married 
in  Ohio  to  Miss  Mary  Susan  Graham,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Margaret 
(McKee)  Graham,  the  latter  a  native  of  County  Down,  Ireland,  and  a  sister 
of  Samuel  McKee,  who  was  an  engineer  and  contractor  on  the  Illinois 
canal  (he  died  a  bachelor).  Andrew  Graham,  Mrs.  Robison's  father,  was 
a  farmer  by  occupation.  He  was  a  son  of  Andrew  Graham,  a  soldier  of 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  who  was  married  three  times.  The  Graham 
lineage  has  been  traced  to  the  time  when  Graham  of  Claverhouse  sent  terror 
into  the  hearts  of  the  Scottish  Covenanters,  from  which  stock  the  American 
lineage  has  descended. 

John  Albert  Robison  is  the  only  living  son  of  his  parents.  He  re- 
ceived his  education  at  Monmouth,  Illinois,  graduating  'successively  from 
the  public  and  high  schools,  and  from  the  classical  department  of 
Monmouth  College  in  1877,  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts, 
receiving  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1880.  He  took  the  regular  course, 
and  special  courses,  in  Rush  Medical  College,  graduating  in  medicine  in  1880 
with  honor,  being  secretary  of  his  class.  After  graduating  he  entered  in  a 
partnership  with  Professor  Joseph  Pressly  Ross,  Professor  of  Clinical  Medi- 
cine and  Diseases  of  the  Chest  in  Rush  Medical  College,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained nine  years,  and  whom  he  assisted  in  founding  the  Presbyterian  Hos- 
pital of  Chicago.  The  medical  and  hospital  appointments  which  he  has  held 
have  been  numerous,  some  of  them  being  as  follows:  From  1880  to  1888 
he  was  Attending  Physician  for  Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  Chest  at  the 
Central  Free  Dispensary,  the  clinical  department  of  Rush  Medical  College, 
and  also  during  this  period  was  Lecturer  on  Materia  Medica  in  Rush  Medical 
College,  and  originated  the  practical  method  of  teaching  this  department  of 
medicine  by  familiarizing  the  students  with  the  properties  of  drugs  and 
their  actions  by  actual  demonstration  in  the  class  room.  He  was  Attending 
Physician  to  the  Cook  County  Hospital  from  1884  to  1888,  and  in  1890  and 
1892.  During  1888  and  1890  he  was  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and 
Therapeutics  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  as  well  as  Instructor  in 
Physical  Diagnosis  in  Rush  Medical  College.  When  Rush  Medical  College 
was  affiliated  with  the  University  of  Chicago  Dr.  Robison  was  appointed 
Assistant  Professor  of  Medicine,  which  position  he  resigned  in  1901.  In 
1891  Dr.  Robison  was  appointed  Professor  of  General  Medicine  in  the 
Post-Graduate  Medical  School,  which  position  he  filled  until  the  school  moved 
to  the  south  side.  He  has  held  the  same  position  in  the  Chicago  Clinical 
School  during  the  past  two  years.  Since  the  founding  of  the  Presbyterian 

Hospital,  in  which  he  took  an  active  part,  he  has  been  Secretary  of  the  Medi- 
11 


162  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

* 

cal  Board,  and  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Managers.  His  first  posi- 
tion in  this  hospital  was  Attending  Physician  for  Diseases  of  the  Throat,  but 
in  1890,  when  Dr.  Ross  died,  he  was  appointed  Attending  Physician  for 
Medical  Diseases  in  his  place,  which  position  he  still  fills.  He  limits  his  prac- 
tice to  Internal  Medicine,  and  is  one  of  the  pioneer  physicans  in  this  com- 
paratively new  specialty.  He  has  traveled  extensively  in  this  country  and 
Europe,  studying  climatology,  health  resorts  and  the  hospitals.  Dr.  Robison 
was  one  of  the  first  to  advocate  the  open-air  and  hygienic  treatment  of  tuber- 
culosis, and  has  been  gratified  to  see  the  views  he  advocated  in  the  medical 
press  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  now  adopted  almost  universally.  In 
former  years  Dr.  Robison  contributed  liberally  to  the  medical  press  articles, 
more  especially  on  medical  topics,  but  during  recent  years  he  has  devoted  the 
greater  part  of  his  efforts  to  the  establishment  of  a  State  Hospital  for  Tuber- 
culosis. While  he  failed  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  bill  he  had  introduced 
in  the  Legislature  for  this  purpose,  he  believes  it  has  had  the  effect  of  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  such  action  soon. 

Dr.  Robison  belongs  to  all  the  principal  local,  State  and  national 
medical  organizations,  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  International  Congress 
which  met  at  Moscow  in  1897.  In  1903  he  was  appointed  the  Delegate  from 
Illinois  by  the  Governor  to  the  Congress  of  Tuberculosis  which  met  in  Lon- 
don. He  is  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Tuberculosis  which  is  co-operat- 
ing with  the  Visiting  Nurses'  Association  in  the  measures  being  adopted  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  tuberculosis  in  Chicago.  He  is  recognized  as  an 
authority  on  questions  relating  to  tuberculosis,  and  has  been  appointed  one  of 
those  who  are  to  conduct  the  discussion  on  tuberculosis  at  the  coming  meeting 
of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society.  Dr.  Robison  is  not  of  the  aggressive 
type,  attending  to  his  private,  consulting  and  hospital  practice  quietly  and 
conscientiously,  but  successfully.  His  vast  clinical  experience  has  been  care- 
fully utilized  and  developed  his  diagnostic  ability,  and  while  he  is  not  a 
fluent  speaker,  he  is  an  able  writer,  and  many  of  his  professional  colleagues 
regret  that  he  does  not  favor  them  with  more  articles  relating  his  observa- 
tions and  his  views  on  various  topics  in  the  field  of  internal  medicine.  Were 
he  more  ambitious  he  perhaps  would  be  more  famous,  but  his  patients  would 
doubtless  be  none  the  better  cared  for. 

On  May  19,  1900,  Dr.  Robison  was  married  to  Adaline  Jessie  Pyott 
Love,  daughter  of  James  M.  Pyott,  Sr.,  and  Jessie  (Fitchie)  Pyott,  the 
former  of  the  firm  of  Holmes,  Pyott  &  Co.,  foundrymen,  Chicago.  The 
name  was  formerly  Piatt.  The  Doctor  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Third 
Presbyterian  Church. 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  163 

CHARLES  WARRINGTON  EARLE,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Charles  Warrington  Earle,  who  passed  away  November  19,  1893, 
combined  in  his  remarkable  personality  the  leading  traits  of  the  New  Eng- 
lander  and  the  Westerner.  The  attractive  qualities  of  both  united  in  him 
in  the  formation  of  a  nature  notable  for  conscientiousness,  unflinching  in- 
tegrity and  indefatigable  industry,  combined  with  wholesome  geniality, 
broad-mindedness  and  humanity.  He  had  the  strong  moral  principle  which 
guides  the  actions  of  the  sturdy  product  of  New  England  training,  and  the 
impulse  which  prompts  the  hearty  good  will  of  the  Western  character.  He 
was  entitled  to  be  the  representative  of  both,  for  he  was  a  native  of  New 
England,  and  grew  to  manhood  in  the  growing  West.  Born  April  2,  1845, 
in  Westford,  Vermont,  a  small  town  in  Chittenden  county,  not  far  north  of 
Burlington,  he  spent  his  early  years  in  that  rugged  region.  When  he  was  nine 
years  old  the  family  migrated  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Fremont  township,  Lake 
county,  and  he  continued  his  studies  faithfully  for  the  next  six  years,  attend- 
ing public  and  select  schools,  and  making  such  progress  that  he  promised  to 
be  well  prepared  to  enter  college  much  before  the  average  age.  But  to  him, 
as  to  many  others,  came  an  important  interruption.  Only  two  weeks  after 
he  had  completed  his  sixteenth  year  came  the  call  to  arms,  to  quell  the 
Rebellion,  and  he  responded  with  all  the  ardor  of  youth.  Inheriting  an  in- 
tensely patriotic  disposition  which  was  strengthened  by  his  early  environ- 
ment and  training,  he  threw  himself  into  the  cause  of  the  Union  from  the 
beginning,  enlisting  in  Company  I,  Fifteenth  Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry. 
He  was  well  grown,  so  that  he  had  no  difficulty  in  passing  the  examination, 
and  though  his  father  objected  on  account  of  his  extreme  youth,  the  lad 
finally  obtained  a  reluctant  consent,  and  went  out  to  fight  for  his  country. 
After  eight  months'  service  with  the  command  mentioned,  campaigning 
through  Missouri  under  General  Fremont,  he  reluctantly  acceded  to  the 
solicitations  of  his  surgeon  to  accept  a  discharge  and  return  home.  His  con- 
stitution had  become  weakened  by  the  climate  and  the  severe  life,  and  he 
had  been  injured  while  unloading  provisions  from  a  boat,  but  his  spirit  never 
faltered.  During  the  winter  and  spring  he  resumed  his  studies,  attending 
school  at  Burlington,  Wisconsin,  and  here  his  military  ardor  was  again 
aroused.  A  battery  of  artillery  was  organizing  at  the  place,  and  he  was 
offered  the  position  of  bugler,  but  this  time  his  father  withheld  the  necessary 
permission.  However,  the  youth  was  not  discouraged.  In  the  early  summer 
of  1862  he  wrote  to  Governor  Yates,  giving  the  facts  about  his  service  and 
asking  to  be  placed  in  some  position  where  his  disability  would  be  no  draw- 
back to  service.  The  Governor,  much  pleased  at  his  enthusiasm  and  earnest- 
ness, made  a  personal  reply,  sending  some  blank  muster  rolls,  with  the  sug- 


164  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

gestion  that  he  help  to  raise  a  company,  and  asking  him,  in  case  he  was  not 
accepted,  to  write  again.  He  at  once  enrolled  himself,  but  when  it  came  to 
examination  he  was  told  to  "stand  aside,"  and  it  was  only  on  the  plea  of  his 
captain  and  lieutenants,  that  he  would  be  invaluable  as  a  drillmaster,  that 
he  was  accepted.  With  their  promise  to  the  surgeon  that  he  would  be  made 
first  sergeant  of  the  company,  he  was  allowed  to  be  mustered  in,  and  thus 
he  became  a  member  of  Company  C,  Ninety-sixth  Illinois  Volunteer  In- 
fantry ;  within  six  months  he  became  second  lieutenant,  receiving  his  commis- 
sion before  he  had  completed  his  eighteenth  year.  Until  the  close  of  the  war, 
with  the  exception  of  the  time  he  spent  in  Libby  prison,  and  later  while  ill 
with  congestion  of  the  brain,  he  was  on  active  duty — an  officer  popular  with 
superiors  and  inferiors  alike,  conspicuous  for  bravery  in  every  engagement 
in  which  he  took  part,  and  faithful  to  duty  to  the  point  of  looking  after  his 
men's  welfare  at  the  cost  of  much  personal  sacrifice.  He  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  first  lieutenant,  and  detailed  on  the  staff  of  the  brigade  com- 
mander, first  serving  as  aide-de-camp,  and  subsequently  as  inspector,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  war  was  brevetted  captain,  "for  efficient  and  heroic  conduct 
in  action."  He  had  commanded  his  company — the  color  company  of  the 
regiment — in  a  number  of  battles,  distinguishing  himself  especially  at 
Chickamauga  (where  he  was  twice  wounded)  and  Nashville,  was  in  the 
many  battles  of  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  was  repeatedly  mentioned  in 
general  reports,  for  bravery  in  battle  and  efficient  service  in  campaign.  He 
and  fourteen  enlisted  men  of  his  company  were  captured  on  Mission  Ridge, 
through  the  negligence  or  timidity  of  a  staff  officer,  and  nine  died  in  Southern 
prisons,  Lieutenant  Earle  escaping  from  Libby,  where  he  was  confined,  in 
February.  He  made  his  way  out  through  the  famous  tunnel,  and  after  a 
week's  wandering  through  the  Virginia  woods,  fighting  hunger,  fatigue  and 
cold,  and  carrying  his  comrade — a  man  older  than  himself,  who  was  on  the 
verge  of  mental  and  physical  collapse — he  regained  the  Union  lines  near 
Williamsburg.  After  a  brief  furlough  he  was  again  at  the  front,  bearing  a 
new  sword  presented  to  him  by  his  neighbors,  and  the  recollection  of  his  ex- 
perience as  a  prisoner  kept  him  ever  on  the  alert,  lest  some  mistake  or  negli- 
gence on  his  part  should  cause  another's  capture.  What  wonder  that  he  was 
the  hero  of  all  his  men,  an  ideal  officer,  a  beloved  comrade,  a  man  who  was  not 
afraid  to  be  manly,  no  matter  what  the  temptation  or  excuse  to  be  otherwise ! 
On  his  return  to  the  paths  of  peace  young  Earle  resumed  his  studies, 
entering  Beloit  College,  where  he  completed  a  five-years  course  in  three  years, 
graduating  with  the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  1868.  Immediately  afterward  he 
took  up  the  study  of  medicine,  entering  the  office  of  the  late  Dr.  William  H. 
Byford,  and  matriculating  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College.  Medicine  had 
been  the  profession  of  his  choice  from  boyhood,  and  with  his  usual  faculty 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  165 

for  clinging  to  an  object  until  its  accomplishment  was  assured  he  never 
abandoned  his  early  intention  of  adopting  it  as  a  life  work.  He  graduated 
in  March,  1870,  near  the  head  of  his  class,  and  began  practice  at  once  in  the 
office  of  his  preceptor.  After  the  great  fire  of  1871  he  settled  on  the  West 
Side,  and  about  this  time  he  married  Fanny  L.  Bundy,  of  Beloit,  who,  with 
a  son  and  a  daughter,  survives  him.  From  the  beginning  Dr.  Earle  displayed 
those  qualities  that  make  for  success  in  the  general  practitioner,  but  his  pet 
ambition  was  to  become  a  medical  teacher,  and  that  he  succeeded  in  both  is 
but  another  evidence  of  his  extraordinary  industry  and  versatility.  In  1872 
he  was  elected  Lecturer  on  Zoology  in  his  Alma  Mater,  and  though  Zoology 
was  an  optional  study,  and  counted  for  nothing  in  the  course,  he  made  his 
lectures  so  popular  that  they  were  well  attended  throughout  the  course.  This 
was  the  first  instance  of  Zoology  being  included  in  the  curriculum  of  any 
American  medical  college,  and  Dr.  Earle  applied  all  his  energies  to  the  task 
of  popularizing  an  innovation,  accomplishing  a  work  to  which  he  afterward 
looked  back  with  pride.  In  1876  he  tried  to  interest  others  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  new  medical  college  on  the  West  Side,  near  the  Cook  County  Hospi- 
tal, but  at  the  time  he  did  not  succeed  in  arousing  sufficient  enthusiasm  in  the 
proper  quarters.  However,  when,  a  few  years  later,  the  project  was  revived 
by  others,  Dr.  Earle's  assistance  and  co-operation  were  at  once  invited,  and 
he  is  therefore  entitled  to  rank  among  the  founders  of  the  institution,  which 
was  opened  in  1881,  as  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  first  Board  of  Directors,  and  the  first  Professor  of  Obstet- 
rics, continuing  as  such  until  1888,  when,  because  of  internal  dissensions,  he 
withdrew.  Two  years  later,  without  the  slightest  solicitation  on  his  part, 
in  fact,  against  his  wishes,  he  was  unanimously  re-elected,  and  his  subse- 
quent position  was  more  influential  than  ever.  In  1892  he  was  elected 
Treasurer  of  the  College  and  President  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  he 
continued  to  hold  both  positions  until  his  death.  At  that  time  he  was  also 
President  of  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  a  distinction  unusual  even  for  a 
popular  physician.  Throughout  his  career  he  was  known  as  one  of  the  most 
enthusiastic  advocates  of  medical  education  for  women,  and  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  to  which  institution,  more  than 
any  other,  he  probably  gave  his  most  interested  efforts.  Soon  after  it  was 
opened  he  was  elected  Professor  of  Physiology,  and  he  was  connected  with  the 
college  to  the  end  of  his  days,  subsequently  filling  the  Chairs  of  Obstetrics, 
Practice  of  Medicine  and  Clinical  Medicine,  and  Diseases  of  Children.  He 
was  the  first  teacher  on  this  continent  to  occupy  a  separate  chair  on  Diseases 
of  Children.  The  Doctor  also  served  as  Secretary  of  the  college,  later,  was 
made  Treasurer,  and  upon  the  death  of  President  By  ford,  in  1891,  was 
elected  President.  There  is  no  doubt  that  to  Professors  Byford  and  Earle 


1 66  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

the  college  was  most  deeply  indebted  for  its  strength  and  standing  among 
medical  institutions.  Dr.  Earle  was  also  prominently  connected  with  the 
Post-Graduate  Medical  School,  of  Chicago,  in  which  he  was  Professor  of 
Obstetrics,  and  in  July,  1892,  he  was  unanimously  elected  Professor,  of 
Obstetrics  and  Diseases  of  Children  in  Rush  Medical  College,  but  he  re- 
signed a  month  later,  feeling  that  he  was  doing  an  injustice  to  his  old  college 
to  abandon  it.  It  was  just  such  acts  that  characterized  his  whole  life.  He 
was  honest  and  sincere  about  everything,  his  work,  his  ambitions,  his  likes 
and  dislikes,  never  affecting  anything  he  did  not  feel,  and  never  hiding  his 
opinion  upon  a  matter  of  right  and  wrong,  except  when  the  expression  of  the 
opinion  could  do  no  good.  His  buoyant,  cheerful  disposition  carried  him  over 
many  hard  places,  and  his  frank  friendliness  and  good-will  toward  all  not 
only  brought  him  the  friendship  of  others,  but  made  good  feeling  in  many 
places  where  such  a  sentiment  would  have  seemed  impossible.  He  was  eager 
and  enthusiastic  in  every  cause  into  which  he  threw  his  energies,  but  his  was 
not  the  partisanship  that  merely  arouses  enmity,  and  as  a  consequence  he  was 
not  respected  among  one  set  of  physicians  only,  or,  in  one  college,  but  in  all, 
in  this  respect  having  an  unparalleled  reputation  among  medical  men. 

Dr.  Earle  had  numerous  connections  besides  those  already  mentioned. 
For  seventeen  years  he  was  Attending  Physician  to  the  Washingtonian  Home, 
and  toward  the  close  of  his  life  was  Attending  Physician  to  the  Wesley  Hospi- 
tal. He  was  a  prominent  member  of  various  medical  societies,  among  them 
the  Chicago  Medical  Society  (of  which  he  was  President  at  the  time  of  his 
death),  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society  (of  which  he  had  also  served  as 
President),  the  American  Pediatric  Society  (charter  member),  the  Chicago 
Medico-Legal  Society,  the  Chicago  Pathological  Society,  the  Practitioners' 
Club,  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  the  American  Medical  Association 
and  the  British  Medical  Association.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  of  which  he  served  as  President,  and  took 
especial  interest  in  its  work.  In  all  these  organizations  he  was  a  leader, 
heading  every  movement  for  the  advancement  of  the  profession,  and  ren- 
dering invaluable  official  services  in  many  instances.  In  fact,  it  was  this 
working  trait  in  Dr.  Earle  which  was  undoubtedly  responsible  for  his  death 
at  a  comparatively  early  age.  It  was  not  enough  for  him  to  be  interested. 
He  had  to  be  up  and  doing,  and  with  a  physical  and  mental  constitution  al- 
most unequalled  for  strength  and  endurance  he  labored  incessantly,  with 
heart  and  soul  in  his  work,  successful  in  almost  every  line,  hopeful  always,  no 
matter  how  dark  the  prospect,  and  encouraging  and  sustaining  others  by 
the  neverfailing  doctrine  of  good  cheer  which  was  part  and  parcel  of  his 
nature.  He  was  a  prolific  writer  on  medical  subjects,  being  a  constant  con- 
tributor to  the  professional  periodicals,  and  one  of  the  writers  of  Keating's 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  167 

Encyclopedia  of  Diseases  of  Children,  and  the  American  Text  Book  of  Dis- 
eases of  Children ;  when  taken  down  with  the  illness  which  caused  his  death 
he  was  preparing  the  article  which  appeared  in  the  American  Text  Book  of 
Obstetrics.  Apart  from  this  he  wrote  noteworthy  essays  on  temperance, 
education,  military  matters  and  other  subjects  in  which  he  was  especially 
interested. 

With  all  this  work  of  an  educational  nature,  it  may  be  difficult  to  under- 
stand how  Dr.  Earle  maintained  his  large  private  practice.  But  maintain  it 
he  did,  and  though  he  employed  an  assistant  for  some  years  before  his  death, 
it  was  a  feat  which  many  a  doctor  would  have  failed  to  accomplish  even  had 
he  devoted  his  whole  time  to  family  practice.  There  is  nothing  remarkable 
in  a  physician  having  charity  patients.  The  medical  profession  offers  a  wider 
field  for  practical  benevolence  than  any  other.  But  to  be  the  hope  of  so 
many  of  the  earth's  unfortunate,  the  one  to  whom  they  turned  with  the  as- 
surance that  he  would  aid  them  resting  on  many  like  experiences,  is  not  the 
lot  of  every  physician.  Dr.  Earle's  big  heart  was  never  more  in  evidence 
than  in  his  dealings  with  these  patients,  to  whom  he  gave  the  same  care,  the 
same  sympathy,  and  the  same  kindly  consideration  that  he  bestowed  upon 
his  wealthiest  patrons.  Truly  he  was  no  respecter  of  persons.  His  practice 
was  lucrative,  but  he  did  not  follow  it  for  that  reason,  as  the  affectionate 
esteem  of  all  who  came  under  his  care  testifies.  They  loved  him  and  confided 
in  him — in  fact  he  was  the  ideal  family  physician. 

In  social  life  and  in  the  domestic  circle  Dr.  Earle  was  at  his  best.  It 
would  seem  that  he  had  little  time  for  such  matters.  But  he  had  a  genial, 
social  nature,  that  craved  friendly  companionship  and  home  love,  and  he 
satisfied  it  with  active  membership  in  various  social  organizations,  notably 
the  Illinois  Club,  the  Lincoln  Club  and  the  Irving  Literary  Society,  in  whose 
meetings  he  was  ever  a  welcome  presence,  and  he  was  a  favorite  speaker. 
He  was  a  good  singer,  fond  of  music,  and  took  the  keenest  delight  in  the 
pleasures  of  society,  for  which  he  wa^  tmin  ntly  fitted.  His  services  in  the 
Union  army  entitled  him  to  membership  in  the  Loyal  Legion,  in  which  he 
was  as  popular  as  in  every  other  organization  with  which  he  was  connected. 

The  wideness  of  Dr.  Earle's  influence  was  never  perhaps  as  fully  demon- 
strated as  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  resolutions  of  sympathy  and  regret 
passed  by  numerous  societies  showing  how  many  interests  and  lives  he 
touched.  Memorial  meetings  were  held  by  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  the 
Chicago  Pathological  Society,  the  American  Pediatric  Society,  the  Illinois 
Club  and  the  Irving  Literary  Society.  Resolutions  of  sympathy  were  passed 
by  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Northwestern  University,  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  the  students  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  the 


168  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Practitioners'  Club  of  Chicago,  the  Chicago  Training  School  for  City,  Home 
and  Foreign  Missions,  the  Loyal  Legion  and  the  Congregational  Club  of 
Chicago.  On  March  9,  1894,  a  bust  of  Dr.  Earle  was  unveiled  in  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  the  address  on  that  occasion  being  delivered 
by  Dr.  William  E.  Quine,  the  President  of  the  Faculty,  and  a  close  personal 
friend  and  co-worker  for  many  years.  To  this  eminent  man  we  are  indebted 
for  many  of  the  facts  used  in  the  compilation  of  this  article,  and  the  following 
tribute  is  from  his  pen : 

"Dr.  Earle  was  a  man  of  magnificent  physique  and  charming  personality. 
Enthusiastic,  responsive,  and  true  to  the  highest  ideals  of  professional  and 
personal  honor,  he  was  beloved  and  respected  by  his  medical  brethren,  and 
was  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  sick  who  entrusted  their  lives  to  his  keeping. 
He  broke  acquaintance  with  his  friends  while  in  the  very  zenith  of  activity 
and  power,  and  passed  into  memory  November  19,  1903." 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  has  this  to  say  of  Dr.  Earle  and  his  work: 

"The  late  Dr.  Charles  Warrington  Earle,  of  Chicago,  was  well  known 
to  me  from  his  medical  student  days  to  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  fav- 
ored with  an  excellent  physical  development,  and  with  intellectual  and  moral 
faculties  of  a  high  order  and  thoroughly  disciplined  by  education  and  untiring 
industry.  Consequently  he  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  successful  practi- 
tioners and  teachers  of  medicine  in  Chicago,  and  an  excellent  example  of 
good  citizenship. 

"Though  his  college  teaching  was  limited  mostly  to  Obstetrics  and  Dis- 
eases of  Children,  in  practice  he  was  a  very  industrious,  considerate  and 
clear-headed  general  practitioner  of  medicine.  He  was  a  good  writer  and 
reported  many  interesting  cases  and  papers  in  the  medical  periodicals,  and  in 
the  several  medical  societies  of  which  he  was  a  member.  And  yet  he  never 
forgot  or  neglected  the  true  social,  moral  and  religious  interests  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lived." 


FRANK    BILLINGS,  M.  D. 

• 

Frank  Billings,  M.  D.,  is  a  man  in  the  prime  of  life,  whose  wonderful 
professional  success  is  the  best  evidence  of  his  native  genius  and  his  chosen 
application  to  study.  As  the  eminent  surgeon,  Dr.  J.  B.  Murphy,  has  well 
said  of  him,  "He  was  one  of  the  first  physicians  to  apply  in  every  day  prac- 
tice the  most  recent  scientific  knowledge  in  bacteriology,  pathology  and  chem- 
istry; and,  as  the  science  has  grown,  he  has  kept  well  apace  with  its  advance- 
ments, and  has  been  its  leader  in  many." 

Dr.  Billings  was  born  April  2,  1854,  at  Highland,  Iowa  county.  Wis- 


,oto  by-  Mjurli 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOiS 
URBANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  169 

consin,  the  fourth  son  of  Henry  M.  and  Ann  (Bray)  Billings.  Until  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  remained  upon  his  father's  farm.  Attend- 
ance upon  the  common  schools  was  supplemented  by  a  course  of  study  in 
the  Normal  School,  at  Platteville,  and  that  was  followed  by  a  comparatively 
long  experience  as  a  teacher  in  the  class  room.  He  began  the  study  of  his 
chosen  profession,  in  which  he  was  destined  to  rise  to  an  eminence  which  he 
himself  could  scarcely  have  foreseen,  in  1877,  when  he  entered  as  a  student 
the  office  of  Dr.  W.  H.  Van  Dusen,  at  Montfort,  in  his  native  State.  The 
following  year  he  matriculated  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  and  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  M.  D.  from  that  institution,  in  course,  in  1881.  Nine 
years  later  the  Northwestern  University  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary 
degree  of  Master  of  Science.  Immediately  upon  graduation  he  was  ap- 
pointed an  interne  in  the  Cook  County  Hospital,  a  post  whose  duties  he  dis- 
charged with  painstaking  conscientiousness  from  March  31,  1881,  until 
September  30,  1882,  when  he  was  invited  by  his  Alma  Mater  to  become 
Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  the  College.  For  three  years  he  retained  this 
position,  having  meanwhile,  in  1883,  been  appointed  a  Lecturer  on  Physical 
Diagnosis.  The  years  1885  and  1886  he  spent  abroad,  studying  in  the  hos- 
pitals of  Paris,  London  and  Vienna,  and  in  1887  he  gave  up  his  position  as 
lecturer,  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Physical  Diagnosis  in  the  same  institution.  Four 
years  later  he  was  transferred  to  the  Professorship  of  Medicine  and  Clinical 
Medicine,  and  in  1898  he  severed  his  connection  with  the  Chicago  Medical 
College  to  enter  the  Faculty  of  Rush,  as  Professor  of  Medicine,  and  (1900) 
became  head  of  the  Department  of  Medicine  and  Dean  of  the  Faculty  in 
that  institution. 

Dr.  Billings  has  a  large  and  lucrative  practice,  which  he  has  acquired 
through  his  own  pre-eminent  skill,  recognized  cap'ability  and  high  moral 
worth.  Of  him  Dr.  Senn  writes :  "Dr.  Billings  is  at  the  present  time  the 
most  eminent  practitioner  in  Chicago.  He  enjoys  the  confidence  of  the  pro- 
fession and  public  to  the  fullest  extent.  He  is  a  pppular  and  forcible  teacher 
of  medicine."  Concerning  his  character  and  attainments  Dr.  Henry  T.  By- 
ford,  writing  of  him,  says :  "His  success  has  been  phenomenal.  On  his  re- 
turn to  Chicago  in  1886,  after  two  years  of  study  abroad,  he  rose  rapidly 
to  the  front  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  has  maintained  his  position  ever 
since.  His  chief  characteristics  are  great  thoroughness  and  progressiveness, 
joined  to  extraordinary  powers  of  physical  endurance.  He  has  established 
a  great  reputation  as  a  diagnostician,  and  represents  a  high  type  of  a  self- 
made  man  and  an  American  gentleman.".  And  to  quote  from  Dr.  Ridlon: 
"He  is  in  the  front  rank  of  medical  practitioners  and  consultants  for  internal 
diseases.  He  is  pre-eminent  in  his  control  of  patients,  and  a  masterful  leader 
among  his  associates.  His  is  a  forceful  and  rugged  character,  that  goes 


1 7o  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

on  to  success  whatever  be  the  surroundings.  He  is  a  generous  friend,  en- 
tirely wanting  in  petty  jealousies,  and  ever  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to 
a  young  man  in  the  profession,  if  that  man  is  worthy  of  respect  and  confi- 
dence." The  late  Dr.  Fenger  wrote  of  Dr.  Billings :  "The  medical  pro- 
fession should  congratulate  itself  that  Dr.  Billings  resisted  the  temptation  of 
a  brilliant  business  career  which  was  offered  him,  and  stood  fast  to  his  chosen 
profession.  In  that  profession  he  has  made  a  still  more  brilliant  success. 
His  success  is  due  to  an  extraordinary  capacity  for  hard  work  and  study 
added  to  an  exceptional  natural  ability.  As  a  diagnostician,  clinician  and  a 
teacher  he  is  without  a  peer.  He  also  has  pre-eminent  qualifications  as  an 
executive  officer,  as  has  been  demonstrated  in  his  conduct  of  the  affairs  of 
the  institutions  of  learning  with  which  he  has  been  and  is  connected!  His 
contributions  to  the  literature  are  always  clear,  concise,  exhaustive,  and  are 
read  with  interest,  not  only  by  general  practitioners,  but  by  those  whose  lines 
of  work  lie  outside  of  the  domain  of  general  medicine."  These  words  of 
eulogy  from  men  renowned  in  the  same  walk  of  life  with  himself  attest 
the  high  esteem  in  which  Dr.  Billings  is  held  by  his  professional  brethren, 
who  are  most  competent  to  judge  of  his  qualifications.  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr., 
adds  this  tribute  of  praise:  "He  is  one  of  the 'most  enterprising,  industrious 
and  successful  practitioners  and  teachers  of  medicine  in  our  city;"  while  Dr. 
H.  B.  Favill  speaks  of  him  as  "possessing  a  thorough  scientific  equipment  and 
exceedingly  sound  judgment,  which  enable  him  to  gain  a  quicker,  firmer 
grasp  of  the  question  before  him  than  many  men  who  are  much  more  techni- 
cal." And  he  adds,  "I  consider  him  both  able  and  broad."  Dr.  William  E. 
Quine  writes :  "Dr.  Billings  is  a  vigorous  and  wholesome  man.  Of  fine 
physique  and  presence,  of  friendly  frankness  of  manner  that  sometimes 
amounts  to  bluntness,  and  a  great  positiveness  in  the  feeling  and  expression 
of  his  opinions  and  convictions,  he  cannot  fail  to  impress  the  observer  as  a 
man  of  sincerity  and  power.  He  is  a  man  who  can  laugh  heartily  and  long — 
but  he  does  not  spend  much  of  his  time  that  way.  He  is  a  cheery  companion, 
a  noble  friend  and  a  large  hearted  and  broad  minded  gentleman.  As  a  phy- 
sician he  occupies  a  position  of  pre-eminence  among  his  brethren  of  the  pro- 
fession. A  painstaking  observer,  a  hard-headed  thinker  and  a  systematic 
recorder  of  his  professional  work,  and  trained  in  every  .method  of  refine- 
ment in  respect  to  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of  disease,  he  has  earned  by 
the  arduous  process  of  unremitting  labor  the  enviable  and  deserved  position 
of  eminence  which  he  possesses.  He  is  a  great  diagnostician  and  a  sound 
and  resourceful  therapeutist.  As. a  teacher  Dr.  Billings  is  direct,  forceful, 
systematic,  cautious  as  to  his  utterances,  and  profoundly  impressive.  Na- 
ture has  made  him  a  leader  of  men — and  no  member  of  the  profession  of 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  171 

Chicago  surpasses  him  in  regard  to  the  extent  and  loyalty  of  his  professional 
following." 

His  high  standing  in  the  profession  has  brought  his  services  into  con- 
stant and  earnest  request  as  attending  and  consulting  physician  at  many 
hospitals,  yet  he  has  found  it  possible  to  accept  only  a  few,  comparatively, 
of  the  many  invitations  of  this  character  which  he  has  received.  He  is  at- 
tending physician  at  -the  Presbyterian,  Cook  County  and  St.  Luke's  Hospi- 
tals, and  a  consultant  at  the  Passavant  Memorial,  the  Providence,  the  Michael 
Reese,  the  Maurice  Porter  and  the  Mary  Thompson  Hospital  for  Women 
and  Children. 

Notwithstanding  the  onerous  nature  and  complex  character  of  the  many 
exacting  calls  upon  his  time,  Dr.  Billings  finds  opportunity  and  inclination 
to  mingle  with  his  professional  brethren  and  co-scientists  in  several  societies 
for  study  and  interchange  of  thought  and  discoveries.  From  1887  to  1889 
he  was  secretary  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  and  in  1890  he  was  chosen 
its  president.  He  was  chosen  president  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion in  1902.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  American  Association  of  Phy- 
sicians, the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  the 
Chicago  Society  of  Internal  Medicine,  Chicago  Medico-Legal  Society, 
Chicago  Pathological  Society  and  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Sciences.  Be- 
fore many  of  these  he  has  read  carefully  prepared  papers,  exhibiting  deep 
research  and  a  comprehensive  grasp  of  the  subject  treated.  In  addition  he 
has  been  a  valued  contributor  to  various  medical  journals  throughout  the 
country,  always  writing  with  a  facile  yet  forceful  pen.  Among  his  best 
known  essays  and  brochures  are  the  following :  "The  Cultivation  of  Bac- 
teria and  Exhibition  of  Cultures/'  read  before  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, 1887;  "Medicine,"  an  address  before  the  Illinois  Medical  Society, 
1888;  "Typhoid  Bacillus,  with  Exhibition  of  Cultures,"  read  before  the 
Chicago  Medical  Society,  December  17,  1888;  "A  Case  of  Renal  Calculus," 
read  before  the  same  body,  March  6,  1889;  "A  Case  of  Renal  Calculus,  with 
Exhibition  of  Kidney  Containing  Calculi,"  read  May  20,  1889;  "Detection 
of  Tubercle  Bacilli,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  March,  1889; 
"Sarcoma  of  Spinal  Cord,  Removal  During  Life,"  read  before  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society,  June  17,  1889;  "Cirrhosis  of  Liver,"  read  before  the  same 
body  and  published  in  the  Chicago  Recorder,  October  31,  1891  ;  "Koch's 
Lymph,"  an  address  before  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  1891  :  "Med- 
ical Treatment  of  Diseases  of  the  Stomach,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Medical 
Society  and  published  in  the  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  December  21,  1891; 
"Carcinoma  of  the  Pancreas ;  Secondary  Carcinomatous  Infiltration  of  Com- 
mon Bile  Duct;  Jaundice;  Autopsy,"  Chicago  Clinical  Reinciv,  April,  1893; 
"Arterio-Sclerosis,"  published  in  Transactions  Illinois  State  Medical  Society, 


1 72  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

1894;  "Anthropathies  of  Nervous  Origin,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder, 
February,  1895;  "Cystic  Degeneration  of  the  Kidney,"  read  before  the 
Chicago  Medical  Society,  and  published  in  Medicine,  May,  1895;  "Inter- 
costal Neuralgia,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  October,  1895;  "Vegetative 
Endocarditis,"  and  "Medical  Treatment  of  Gall  Stones,"  both  papers  read 
before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society  in  1898;  "Headaches  from  Gastro  In- 
testinal Disorders,"  read  before  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  American  Medical  Journal,  September,  1899;  "Pernicious 
Anaemia,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  October,  1899;  "The  Treatment  of 
Typhoid  Fever,"  Chicago  Society  of  Internal  Medicine,  Journal  of  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association,  February  24,  1900;  "Pneumococcus  Infection," 
Kalamazoo  Academy  of  Medicine,  January  9,  1900;  "The  Relation  of  Gen- 
eral Medicine  to  the  Specialist,"  Chicago  Medical  Society,  January,  1898: 
The  Medical  Standard,  February,  1898;  "The  Limitations  of  Medicine," 
address  delivered  at  opening  exercises  of  Rush  Medical  College,  September 
27,  1898:  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  October  22,  1898;  "The 
Differentiation  of  the  Cardiac  Incompetency  of  Intrinsic  Heart  Disease  and 
of  Chronic  Nephritis,"  read  in  Section  on  Practice  of  Medicine,  of  American 
Medical  Association,  Denver,  Colorado,  June,  1898:  Journal  American 
Medical  Association,  July  16,  1898;  Gastro-Duodenal  Disorders  Due  to  Im- 
proper modes  of  Living,"  address  in  Michigan  State  Medical  Society,  Mack- 
inac  Island,  Michigan,  July,  1900:  Transactions  Michigan  State  Medical 
Society,  1900;  "Report  of  Cases  of  Pernicious  Anaemia,  with  Special  Refer- 
ence to  the  Blood  Findings,"  read  at  meeting  of  the  Association  of  American 
Physicians,  at  Washington,  D.  C,  May  i,  1900:  Transactions  Association 
of  American  Physicians,  1900;  "Two  Interesting  Cases:  Gallstone  of  the 
Cystic  Duct  with  Situs  Viscerum  Inversus;  and  Gumma  of  the  Liver," 
Philadelphia  Medical  Journal,  October  6,  1900;  "Carcinoma  of  Pylorus, 
Secondary  to  Round  Ulcer;  Perforation;  Resection  of  Pylorus;  Recovery," 
American  Medicine,  April  6,  1901 ;  "Pernicious  Anaemia,  Report  of  Progress 
of  Cases  Presented  to  the  Association  in  1900,  and  Report  of  a  Case  with 
Diffuse  Spinal  Cord  Lesions,  with  Post  Mortem  Findings,"  read  at  meeting 
of  Association  of  American  Physicians,  1901  :  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  August  24,  1901 ;  "The  Limitations  of  Medical  Therapeutics," 
address  on  Medicine  delivered  before  Ohio  State  Medical  Society,  May  8, 
1901:  The  Medical  News,  February  15,  1902;  "Uric  Acid  Fallacies,"  ad- 
dress on  Medicine  delivered  before  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  Peoria, 
May  22,  1901  :  Illinois  Medical  Journal,  1901 ;  "The  Clinical  Manifestations 
of  Pericarditis,"  read  in  the  Section  of  the  Practice  of  Medicine  of  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  June  7,  1901 :  Journal  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,  1901 ;  "What  are  the  Qualifications  Necessary  for 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  173 

Success  in  the  Practice  of  Medicine?''  address  on  Medicine  at  the  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  Medical  Association,  Put-in-Bay,  Ohio, 
September  13,  1901:  Medicine,  November,  1901;  "Clinical  Manifestations 
of  the  Early  Stages  of  Cirrhosis  of  the  Liver,"  read  at  meeting  of  Association 
of  Physicians  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  April  30,  1902 :  Journal  American  Med- 
ical Association,  June  7,  1902;  "The  Relation  of  Medical  Science  to  Com- 
merce," oration  on  Medicine  delivered  at  Fifty-third  annual  session  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  June  n,  1902:  Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  and  other  journals,  June,  1902;  The  Shat- 
tuck  Lecture :  "The  Changes  in  the  Spinal  Cord  and  Medulla  in  Pernicious 
Anaemia,"  delivered  before  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  June  10,  1902 : 
Transactions  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  1902. 

At  the  time  of  Dr.  Billings's  election  to  the  presidency  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  in  1902,  the  Journal  of  that  Association  said  editorially: 
"The  election  of  Dr.  Frank  Billings  as  President  of  the  Association  for  the 
ensuing  year  meets  with  general  favor  on  all  sides.  A  more  generally  satis- 
factory choice  could  hardly  have  been  made.  In  the  first  place  all  who  know 
something  of  the  personality  of  the  new  President  find  in  him  a  fortunate 
blending  of  qualities  that  go  to  make  successful  leaders  in  professional 
and  educational  affairs.  Energetic,  forceful,  judicious,  and  withal  sympa- 
thetic— these  are  some  of  the  more  prominent  general  characteristics  that 
have  placed  Dr.  Billings  in  such  high  esteem  in  the  community  and  in  the 
medical  profession.  Not  yet  fifty  years  of  age,  his  professional  career  began 
as  interne  in  the  Cook  County  Hospital  after  graduation  from  the  Chicago 
Medical  College  (now  the  Northwestern  Medical  School),  a  little  more  than 
twenty  years  ago.  This  was  followed  by  a  period  of  arduous  study  in 
Vienna,  where  his  industry  and  comprehensive  grasp  of  clinical  problems 
soon  attracted  the  special  attention  of  his  teachers,  all  of  whom  followed  his 
subsequent  development  into  a  leading  practitioner  and  teacher  with  personal 
interest.  Returning  to  Chicago  he  became  identified  with  his  Alma  Mater. 
*  *  *  Needless  to  say  he  has  always  been  prominent  in  all  endeavors 
toward  raising  the  standards  of  medical  education  and  the  better  organization 
of  the  medical  profession,  taking  an  active  and  prominent  part  in  local,  State 
and  National  societies.  From  time  to  time  he  has  made  valuable  contributions 
to  medical  literature.  *  *  *  As  a  teacher  he  is  valued  especially  for  his 
clearness,  thoroughness,  and  the  application  of  modern  methods  in  clinical 
medicine,  encouraging  investigation  and  research  on  the  part  of  assistants  and 
students.  Finally,  mention  should  be  made  of  his  exemplary  conduct  as  a  citi- 
zen of  a  young  metropolis  in  devoting  much  time  and  energy  to  the  improve- 
ment in  the  management  and  to  the  upbuilding  of  its  medical  and  scientific 
institutions.  These  are  some  of  the  principal  achievements  of  the  vigorous  and 


i74  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

progressive  man,  animated  throughout  by  high  principles,  to  whom  the  dis- 
tinguished office  to  which  he  has  just  been  elected  may  be  said  to  come  as  a 
well  deserved  honor." 

The  Medical  News,  on  the  same  occasion,  said :  "Dr.  Billings  is  known 
as  a  man  of  careful,  painstaking  inquiry.  Catholic  in  his  spirit  and  in  his 
sympathies,  an  interesting  and  genial  teacher,  and  one  who  has  built  up  a 
school  of  scientists  in  Chicago,  who  are  an  honor  to  the  profession — such 
are  some  of  the  attributes  of  the  new  President." 

The  Philadelphia  Medical  Journal  said :  "The  election  of  Dr.  Frank 
Billings  of  Chicago  for  President  meets  with  general  approval.  Dr.  Billings 
is  a  representative  medical  man  of  the  great  Central  West.  He  is,  moreover, 
a  physician,  and  as  the  Association  has  honored  surgeons  now  for  several 
years  with  its  highest  office  it  was  appropriate  it  should  turn  this  year  to  a 
representative  of  the  other  field  of  practice." 

The  New  York  Medical  Journal  said :  "The  Association  is  greatly  to 
be  congratulated  upon  its  choice  of  a  President  for  the  ensuing  year.  We 
would  by  no  means  debar  specialists  from  the  presidency;  indeed,  many  of 
them  have  filled  the  office  gracefully  and  efficiently;  but  we  can  not  avoid 
the  thought  that  a  representative  of  general  medicine  is  as  a  rule  the 
proper  person  to  preside  over  an  organization  that  embraces  all  branches  of 
medicine.  And  surely  there  is  no  member,  of  the  American  profession  who 
would  be  more  widely  recognized  as  embodying  what  we  expect  to  find  in  the 
general  physician  than  Dr.  Frank  Billings  of  Chicago.  When  to  his  attain- 
ments as  a  practitioner,  we  add  his  personal  dignity  and  serenity  we  have  an 
ideal  presiding  officer  of  the  American  Medical  Association.  Hardly  less  re- 
quisite in  the  president  of  such  an  organization  is  catholicity  of  thought — 
freedom  from  that  narrowness  that  keeps  a  man  continually  plodding  in  the 
strict  field  of  professional  practice.  Such  breadth  of  thought  was  clearly 
shown  by  Dr.  Billings  in  the  address  on  medicine  which  he  delivered  before 
the  Saratoga  meeting.  *  *  *  We  repeat  that  the  American  Medical 
Association  is  to  be  congratulated  on  having  chosen  such  a  man  for  its 
president." 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS. 


NATHAN  SMITH  DAVIS,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  JR. 

This  eminent  practitioner,  lecturer  and  author  was  born  in  Chicago 
September  5,  1858,  and  although  yet  young  in  years  he  has  already  forged  to 
the  front  in  the  ranks  of  the  distinguished  physicians  of  the  West.  He  is  the 
youngest  and  only  living  son  of  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  who  has  been  not  inaptly 
described  by  Dr.  Nicholas  Senn  as  "the  Nestor  of  Medicine  in  Chicago." 

To  state  this  circumstance  is  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  younger 
Davis  comes  rightfully  by  those  gifts  of  native  genius  which  he  has  culti- 
vated to  the  utmost  through  experimental  observation,  keen  analysis,  hard 
study  and  close  application.  He  received  the  degree  of  A.  B.  from  North- 
western University  in  1880;  and  even  during  his  course  of  academic  study 
he  easily  ranked  as  one  of  the  most  earnest  and  honored  members  of  his  class. 
Besides  winning  a  prize  for  the  best  English  essay,  he  achieved  marked  dis- 
tinction in  the  field  of  Natural  History.  To  this  pursuit  he  devoted  most  ot 
his  available  leisure  during  term  time  and  all  of  his  vacations,  and  so  pro- 
ficient did  he  become  that  during  his  Junior  year  he  published,  in  connection 
with  a  fellow  student,  a  descriptive  catalogue  of  the  Reptilia  and  Batrachia 
of  Eastern  North  America.  His  health  showing  some  symptoms  of  impair- 
ment, he  visited  South  America,  where  he  secured  valuable  collections  of 
specimens  of  the  Herpetology,  Ornithology  and  Geology  of  that  continent. 
That  this  pursuit  of  scientific  investigation  and  research  has  proved  of  the 
utmost  value  to  him  as  a  medical  practitioner  and  professor  is  a  fact  almost 
too  patent  to  call  for  mention. 

In  1883  he  received  the  degree  of  A.  M.  from  his  academic  Alma  Mater, 
in  course,  and  the  same  year  was  given  a  diploma  as  M.  D.,  by  the  Chicago 
Medical  College,  now  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Northwestern  University.  In 
his  professional,  as  in  his  college  course,  he  won  high  distinction,  not  only 
ranking  first  in  his  class  but  also  being  awarded  a  prize  for  the  best  thesis. 
Within  a  year  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  visiting  staff  of  Mercy  Hospital, 
a  position  whose  duties  he  has  discharged  ever  since  with  a  fidelity  born  of 
devotion  and  a  skill  attainable  only  through  profound  study  and  ripened  ex- 
perience. At  about  the  same  time  he  was  Assistant  Professor  of  Pathology 
at  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  an  honor  rarely  conferred  upon  so  young  a 
man  and  so  recent  a  graduate.  He  spent  the  spring  and  summer  of  1885  in 
Europe  (that  being  his  second  trip  abroad),  devoting  his  time  chiefly  to  the 
study  of  Pathology  at  Heidelberg  and  Vienna.  Upon  his  return  he  found 
that  the  onus  of  instruction  in  Pathology  devolved  chiefly  upon  his  shoulders. 
It  was  he  who  planned  and  inaugurated  the  first  course  of  instruction  in  the 
laboratory  for  his  college,  and  in  1887  the  Adjunct-Professorship  of  the 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Medicine  in  the  Chicago  Medical  College  was  tend- 


176  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

ered  him.     He  accepted  the  Chair,  and  the  following  year  was  appointed  to 
a  full  professorship,  which  he  still  fills,  bringing  to  the  discharge  of  its  duties 
an  ability,  an  unwearying  devotion,  and  a  capacity  for  self-sacrificing  work, 
which  are  worthy  of  the  admiration  that  they  have  elicited.     Since  then 
honors  have  come  upon  him  thick  and  fast,  but  always  unsought,  his  native 
modesty  surpassing  even  his  rare  talent.     His  clinics  at  Mercy  Hospital  are 
of  a  sort,  and  are  conducted  with  such  technical  knowledge  and  skill,  as  to 
attract  both  pupils  and  physicians.     Indeed,  for  the  successful  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  the  exacting  profession  to  which  he  has  consecrated  his  life,  few 
men  of  his  age  and  time  are  better  equipped.    As  a  practitioner  he  is  a  close 
observer,  clear  reasoner,  quick  of  apprehension  and  resourceful.     It  is  these 
qualities  which  have  chiefly  caused  his  services  as  a  consulting  physician  to 
be  so  largely  in  demand.     His  office  patients  come  from  neighboring  States, 
and  his  fellow  members  in  the  profession  in  Illinois  constantly  seek  his  ad- 
vice in  difficult  and  dangerous  cases.    As  a  lecturer  he  always  commands  un- 
divided attention.     Speaking  with  a  voice  well  modulated  and  flexible,  his 
explanations  are  clear,  his  language  forceful,  his  conclusions  convincing.     As 
an  author  he  has  few  if  any  superiors  in  lucidity  of  expression,  perspicacity 
of  statement,  fertility  of  illustration,  and  ease  and  grace  of  diction.     Some  of 
his  best  known  efforts  as  a  writer  are  enumerated  in  a  succeeding  paragraph. 
His  prominence  in   the  profession  is   shown  by  the  character  of  the 
numerous  organizations  to  which  he  belongs,  and  the  important  positions 
which  he  has  held  and  holds  therein.     In  1888  he  was  chosen  secretary  of 
the  Section  of  Practical  Medicine  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and 
in  1892  was  chosen,  by  that  Section,  a  member  of  the  Association's  Executive 
Council.     He  was  also  chairman  of  the  Section  of  Practical  Medicine  of  the 
Illinois  State  Medical  Society  for  1893,  and  was  a  member  of  the  council 
of  the  Section  of  Pathology  of  the  Ninth  International  Medical  Congress, 
as  well  as  of  the  Section  of  Medicine  of  the  Pan-American  Medical  Congress. 
In  addition  to  these  positions  of  honor  and  responsibility  he  is  a  member  of 
the  Pharmacopeia  Revision  Committee  (and  vice-President  of  the  Conven- 
tion    for     the     Revision     of     the     United     States     Pharmacopeia)  ;     was 
Chairman     of    the     Section     of     Medicine,     Illinois     State     Medical     So- 
ciety;    formerly     Vice-President     of     the     Chicago     Society     of     Internal 
Medicine,     and     President     of     the     Chicago     Medico-Legal     Society;     is 
a  member  of  the  Chicago  Pathological  and  Neurological  Societies;  and  is 
a  Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Medicine.     Besides  belonging  to  these 
professional  organizations  he  is  an  esteemed  member  of  the  American  Clima- 
tological  Association,   the  American   Therapeutic   Association,   the   Chicago 
Academy  of  Sciences,  the  Illinois  Microscopical   Society  and  the  Chicago 
Literary  Club,  as  well  as  one  of  the  board  of  managers  of  the  Young  Men's 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  177 

\ 

Christian  Association  of  Chicago,  and  a  trustee  of  Northwestern  University. 
Dr.  Davis  is  the  author  of  a  small  volume  on  personal  hygiene;  "Con- 
sumption, How  to  Prevent  It  and  How  to  Live  with  It;"  of  a  standard  work 
on  "Disease  of  the  Lungs,  Heart  and  Kidneys ;"  and  an  exhaustive  monograph 
upon  "Dietetics,"  which  constitutes  one  volume  of  the  series  entitled  Physiolo- 
gic Therapeutics.  He  has  also  been  associate  author  of  other  works  of  recog- 
nized authority,  having  prepared  for  the  "International  System  of  Electro- 
Therapeutics"  the  sections  treating  on  the  Lungs  and  Heart;  for  the  "System 
of  Practical  Therapeutics,"  published  by  Lee  Brothers  &  Company,  that  portion 
of  the  volume  treating  of  the  Therapeutics  of  Renal  Diseases ;  and  to  Wood's 
"Reference  Handbook"  numerous  articles.  For  many  years  after  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association  he  was  a  constant 
contributor  to  its  editorial  columns,  and  for  several  years  edited  the  Depart- 
ment of  Therapeutics  of  the  well  known  journal  Medicine.  To  current  medical 
literature  he  has  been  a  frequent  and  voluminous  contributor,  his  articles 
usually  being  of  high  value  because  of  their  didactic  character,  their  deep  re- 
search and  their  analysis.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  the  following: 
"Methods  of  Resorption  and  Disposal  of  Foreign  Bodies  in  the  Living  System," 
Journal  of  American  Medical  Association,  October  7,  1883;  "Arsenite  of 
Bromine  in  Diabetes  Mellitus,"  Id.,  May  8,  1886;  "Antipyrin  in  Rheuma- 
tism, Its  Value  and  Mode  of  Action,"  a  paper  read  at  the  Chicago  meeting 
of  the  American  Medical  Association,  June  8,  1887,  and  published  in  the 
Society's  Journal;  "Chronic  Meningitis  with  Partial  Paralysis,"  Chicago 
Medical  Journal  and  Examiner,  July,  1887;  "Cellular  Digestion,  its  Utility 
in  Pathological  Processes,"  a  paper  read  at  the  Washington  meeting  of  the 
Ninth  International  Medical  Congress  on  September  7,  1887,  and  published 
in  the  Transactions  of  that  body;  "A  case  of  Rupture  of  an  Aortic  Valve," 
read  at  a  meeting  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  and  published  in  the 
Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association  in  June,  1888;  "The  Mode  of 
Action  and  Value  of  Antipyrin  in  Typhoid  Fever,"  Medical  Record  of  New 
York,  January  19,  1889;  "Physiological  Action  of  Typhoid  Fever  Poison," 
read  before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  and  published  in  the  Medical  Rec- 
ord, December  28,  1889;  "The  Treatment  of  Asthma,"  a  clinical  lecture, 
which  appeared  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  May 
25,  1889;  "The  Necessity  of  Scientific  Training  for  Students  of  Medicine," 
an  introductory  lecture  delivered  at  the  opening  of  Northwestern  Univer- 
sity Medical  School,  in  October,  1889,  published  in  the  North  American 
Practitioner,  July,  1890;  "Remarks  upon  the  Etiology  of  Typhoid  Fever," 
read  before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society  in  1891 ;  "Non-Valvular  Heart 
Murmurs,"  read  before  the  American  Medical  Association  and  published  in 
the  Journal  July  30,  1892;  "Voluntary  Respiratory  Exercises  in  the  Treat- 
ment of  Phthisis,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  1892; 
12 


178  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

"Uraemia,"  a  clinical  lecture,  Second  Series,  III  (1892),  of  International 
Clinics;  "Oxygen  Inhalations,  in  Respiratory  Affections,"  an  essay  read 
May  17,  1892,  before  the  Illinois  Medical  Society  and  published  in  the 
Transactions  of  the  Society;  "Remarks  on  the  Treatment  of  Diabetes  Melli- 
tus,"  read  at  the  Milwaukee  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association, 
and  published  in  the  Journal  August  5,  1893;  "Some  Statistics  of  Diabetes 
Mellitus,"  read  before  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  January  15,  1894; 
"Animal  Extracts,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  and  appearing 
in  the  Medical  Recorder,  December,  1894;  "Pulmonary  Hypertrophic 
Osteoarthropathy,"  read  before  the  American  Medical  Association  at  Balti- 
more, May,  1895 ;  "Cases  of  Valvular  Disease  of  the  Heart,"  a  clinical  lec- 
ture published  in  International  Clinics,  Vol.  IV,  Series  IV,  1895;  "Treat- 
ment of  Consumption,"  read  before  the  Illinois  Medical  Society  at  Ottawa, 
and  published  in  Medicine,  August,  1896;  "How  to  Teach  Medicine,"  Med- 
ical Fortnightly,  September,  1896;  "Trichomonas  Vaginalis,"  read  before 
the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  and  published  in  the  Medical  Recorder,  Octo- 
ber, 1896;  "Prophylaxis  of  Tuberculosis,"  Medical  Recorder,  March,  1897; 
"Cheyne-Stokes  Respiration  Phenomena,"  read  before  the  American  Medi- 
cal Association  at  Philadelphia,  and  published  in  the  Journal  July,  1897; 
"Cardio-Vascular  and  Renal  Relations  and  Manifestations  of  Gout,"  a  paper 
read  at  the  same  meeting  and  published  in  the  same  journal ;  "Treatment  of 
Chronic  Enteritis,"  Medical  Standard,  1897;  "Chicago  Sanitary  Flour  for 
Certain  Dyspeptics  and  Diabetics,"  read  before  the  Chicago  Medical  Society 
and  published  in  1898,  in  International  Clinics;  "Diabetic  Gangrene,"  read 
before  the  American  Medical  Association  in  June,  1898,  at  Denver, 
and  published  in  the  Journal;  "A  New  Bread  for  Diabetics,"  read 
at  the  same  place  and  time  and  published  in  the  same  volume ;  "Atheroma  of 
Aorta  with  an  Unusual  Murmur  at  its  Arch,"  Mercy  Hospital  Reports,  1898; 
"Prognosis  in  Chronic  Valvular  Affections  of  the  Heart,"  read  before  the 
American  Climatological  Association,  at  New  York,  June,  1899,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Medical  Neivs;  "Some  Phases  of  Pulmonary  Tuberculosis  and 
Its  Treatment,"  St.  Joseph  County  Medical  Society,  Indiana,  1900,  Bulletin 
Northwestern  University  Medical  School;  "Treatment  of  Pneumonia  in  In- 
fancy and  Childhood,"  Chicago  Medical  Society,  Medical  Recorder,  1900; 
"Dietetic  Treatment  of  Diabetes,"  1900,  Section  of  Therapeutics,  American 
Medical  Association,  Journal  of  the  Association;  "A  Case  of  Ulcerative 
Endocarditis  with  Recovery,"  1900,  Section  of  Medicine,  American  Medical 
Association,  Journal  of  Association;  Address  on  "Antivivisection  Legisla- 
tion" before  Chicago  Literary  Club,  1898;  "Prognosis  in  Chronic  Valvular 
Diseases  of  the  Heart,"  1899,  American  Climatological  Society,  Medical 
Nezvs;  "Animal  Extracts"  (about  1896-97),  Chicago  Medical  Society,  Med- 


LIBiiARY 

LV.Ti'CRSDY  OP  ILLINOIS 
URGANA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  179 

ical  Recorder;  "The  Diagnosis  and  Treatment  of  Round  Ulcer  of  the  Stom- 
ach," Address  before  Nebraska  State  Medical  Society,  May,  1901,  published 
in  American  Medicine,  November  9,  1901 ;  Oration  on  Medicine,  American 
Medical  Association,  June  8,  1901 ;  "Internal  Medicine  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century;"  "Treatment  of  Pneumonia,"  read  before  Illinois  State  Medical  So- 
ciety, May,  1902,  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Associa- 
tion; "Treatment  of  Typhoid  Fever,"  read  at  meeting  of  Central  Wisconsin 
Medical  Society,  October  28,  1902;  "Exercise  as  a  Mode  of  Treatment  for 
Heart  Diseases,"  read  at  the  New  Orleans  Meeting,  1903,  of  the  American 
Medical  Association. 

Reference  to  Dr.  Davis's  celebrated  father,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  has 
been  already  made.  His  grandfather  was  Dow  Davis,  a  pioneer  farmer  of 
Chenango  county,  New  York,  and  his  mother  was  Anna  Maria  Parker,  of 
Vienna,  in  that  State.  He  himself  was  married  in  1884  to  Miss  Jessie 
Hopkins,  a  daughter  of  the  late  Judge  Hopkins,  of  Madison,  Wisconsin. 

Dr.  Davis's  standing  among  his  professional  brethren  is  aptly  shown 
by  the  following  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Daniel  R.  Brower:  "N.  S.  Davis,  Jr., 
is  a  'chip  off  the  old  block,'  a  worthy  son  of  a  noble  sire — no  one  more  fully 
exemplifies  the  great  law  of  heredity.  A  great  student,  a  successful  teacher, 
an  earnest  worker  for  the  elevation  of  professional  attainments  generally.  Is 
it  any  wonder  that  he  has  an  international  reputation  and  a  large  clientage?" 

Dr.  John  Ridlon  writes :  "N.  S.  Davis,  Jr.  A  courteous  gentleman,  a 
learned  physician,  a  generous  friend,  a  man  whom  men  love." 


JOHN  RIDLON,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

This  eminent  surgeon,  whom  the  profession  and  laity  of  Chicago  delight 
to  honor,  and  who,  in  the  words  of  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  "is  an  eminent 
practitioner  and  teacher  of  orthopedic  surgery,  and  a  most  valued  contributor 
to  the  literature  of  that  department,"  had  his  birthplace  among  the  moun- 
tains of  Vermont,  whose  peaks  look  down  upon  the  broad  waters  of  Lake 
Champlain.  In  their  bosom  he  was  nurtured,  and  as,  from  their  verdant 
summits,  he  behekl  the  coronal  of  evanescent  glory  lingering  on  the  western 
hills  at  sunset,  who  can  tell  what  aspirations  of  hopes  may  not  have — half 
unconsciously  to  himself — filled  his  youthful  mind.  Dr.  Ridlon  was  born 
in  Clarendon,  Rutland  county,  in  the  Green  Mountain  State,  on  November 
24,  1852.  His  father,  Noel  Potter  Ridlon,  was  a  farmer,  and  his  mother's 
maiden  name  was  Nancy  Bromley  Hulett.  His  educational  advantages  in 
boyhood  were  the  best  afforded  by  the  locality  in  which  he  was  reared.  A 


180  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

course  in  the  public  schools  was  supplemented  by  attendance  at  Lansley's 
Commercial  College,  at  Poultney,  and  at  Barre  Academy.  He  left  the  insti- 
tution last  named  in  1869,  three  years  after  the  death  of  his  father,  and  at 
once  began  life's  battle  on  his  own  account,  as  a  salesman  in  the  general 
store  of  J.  S.  Warren,  of  Granville,  New  York.  The  work  did  not  prove  to 
his  liking,  and  after  a  year  so  spent  he  abandoned  it,  to  become  a  "level-rod 
man"  in  a  corps  of  civil  engineers  engaged  in  surveying  the  route  of  the 
Chicago,  Danville  and  Vincennes  railroad.  From  October,  1870,  to  June, 
1872,  he  was  a  student  at  Goddard  Seminary,  at  Barre,  Vermont,  and  for 
two  years  thereafter  at  Tufts  College.  Like  many  other  young  men  whose 
innate  spirits  can  illy  brook  control  he  disagreed  with  the  Faculty  on  ques- 
tions of  discipline,  and  was  expelled  during  his  Sophomore  year.  In  June, 
1899,  the  institution,  perhaps  wishing  to  atone  for  its  previous  action,  con- 
ferred upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  His  expulsion  from 
Tufts,  however,  did  not  prevent  his  matriculating  at  the  Chicago  Univer- 
sity in  1874,  nor  his  graduation  therefrom  in  1875,  with  the  degree  of  A.  B. 
The  degree  of  M.  A.  was  also  conferred  upon  him,  in  course,  in  1878,  and 
the  A.  B.  degree  was  affirmed  by  the  new  Chicago  University  in  July,  1896. 

Dr.  Ridlon  began  his  medical  studies  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  in  New  York,  in  September,  1875,  receiving  his  degree  of  M.  D.  in 
March,  1878.  His  appointment  as  Interne  for  medical  and  surgical  service 
at  St.  Luke's  Hospital  followed  in  July.  Such  an  intellect  as  his,  however, 
was  not  to  be  concealed,  like  "a  light  under  a  bushel."  Selecting  Orthopedic 
Surgery  as  a  specialty  he  soon  attained  eminence  and  in  April,  1881,  was 
made  Assistant  Orthopedic  Surgeon  of  the  hospital  in  which  his  professional 
career  had  begun,  and  attending  Orthopedic  Surgeon  in  1888,  which 
post  he  filled  for  one  year.  Meanwhile  other  professional  honors 
had  been  thrust  upon  him,  unsolicited.  From  June,  1881,  to  October, 
1888,  he  was  Assistant  Surgeon  to  the  New  York  Orthopedic  Dispensary 
and  Hospital.  From  October,  1882,  to  April,  1887,  he  was  Lecturer  on 
Orthopedic  Surgery  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  and  for  two  years  (1887-89)  attending  Orthopedic  Sur- 
geon to  the  First  Department  for  the  Relief  of  the  Out-Door  Poor,  at  Bellevue 
Hospital.  His  reputation  as  a  patient  and  tireless  investigator,  joined  to  his 
well-earned  fame  as  a  specialist,  placed  him  in  charge  of  the  Orthopedic  ser- 
vice of  the  Vanderbilt  Clinic  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  for 
the  period  between  January,  1889,  and  May,  1892,  his  immediate  charge  being 
the  examination,  care  and  treatment  of  orthopedic  patients. 

In  the  last  mentioned  year  he  came  West,  locating  at  Chicago,  which 
city  has  since  been  his  home.  His  fame  had  preceded  him,  and  he  was  at 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  181 

once  tendered  the  position  of  Lecturer  on  Orthopedic  Surgery  at  the  Chicago 
Medical  College,  now  a  department  of  the  Northwestern  University,  the 
grave  and  difficult  duties  of  which  post  he  continued  to  discharge  with  rare 
ability  and  unwearying  fidelity  until  1893,  in  which  year  he  was  called  to 
the  Chair  of  Orthopedic  Surgery  in  the  college,  which  he  accepted,  bringing 
thereto  ripe  scholarship,  long  experience  and  a  tireless  persistency  in  investi- 
gation. Of  his  career  in  the  West,  comparatively  brief  as  it  has  been,  the 
great  Dr.  Fenger  has  said  that  "although  in  Chicago  for  less  than  ten  years 
he  has  rapidly  become  an  acknowledged  authority  on  orthopedic  surgery. 
He  is  the  apostle  of  the  modern  or  non-operative  treatment  of  deformities, 
and  has  attained  a  high  degree  of  success  in  this  particular  field."  From 
October,  1892,  to  December,  1893,  he  filled  the  same  Chair  (Orthopedic 
Surgery)  in  the  Post  Graduate  Medical  School.  In  1898  he  was  called  to  the 
same  professorship  in  the  Woman's  Medical  College,  one  of  the  departments 
of  the  Northwestern  University.  For  ten  years  he  was  Senior  Attending 
Orthopedic  Surgeon  at  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  and  has  been  medical  director 
and  surgeon  in  charge  of  the  Home  for  Destitute  Crippled  Children  since  its 
establishment.  The  Board  of  the  Michael  Reese  Hospital,  recognizing  his 
broad  knowledge  and  his  pronounced  skill  as  a  specialist,  appointed  him 
Attending  Orthopedic  Surgeon  in  1895,  and  the  following  year  he  was  named 
a  consultant  at  the  Mary  Thompson  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children. 
However,  he  has  resigned  the  latter  incumbency.  He  is  now  in  charge  of 
the  Orthopedic  service  at  Mercy  Hospital,  the  Wesley  Hospital  and  the 
Evanston  Hospital.  In  writing  of  the  career  of  Dr.  Ridlon,  Dr.  \V.  F.  Waugh 
says :  "On  coming  to  Chicago  he  at  once  took  high  rank  in  his  specialty,  and 
was  recognized  as  a  decided  acquisition  to  the  city.  He  enjoys  the  rare  dis- 
tinction of  having  won  friends  without  making  enemies  and  of  winning 
respect  without  arousing  envy." 

Dr.  Ridlon  has  also  been  recently  elected  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tion of  the  University  of  Chicago.  A  partial  index  of  the  esteem  in  which  he 
is  held  by  his  professional  brethren  is  afforded  by  the  following  kindly  words 
of  Dr.  Frank  Billings :  "Who  does  not  know,  esteem  and  admire  Dr.  John 
Ridlon?  Immensely  big  and  wholesome,  full  of  energy,  his  mind  larger  than 
his  physical  bulk,  he  is  a  veritable  master  in  his  special  field  of  practice. 
Cordial  and  straightforward  in  his  dealings,  both  socially  and  professionally, 
he  is  respected,  admired  and  loved  by  patients,  acquaintances  and  friends." 

The  Doctor  has  been  prominently  identified  with  many  of  the  leading 
medical  societies  of  the  country,  and  has  been  at  once  a  prolific  and  per- 
spicacious author,  his  works  being  recognized  as  authoritative  in  the  fields 
of  which  they  treat.  While  in  New  York  he  was  chosen  to  membership  in 


182  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

the  County  Medical  Society,  the  Pathological  Society,  the  Academy  of  Med- 
icine and  the  Hospital  Graduates'  Club,  being  secretary  of  the  organization 
last  named.  Since  coming  to  Chicago,  one  society  has  vied  with  another  in  the 
attempt  to  secure  his  honored  name  upon  its  roll  of  membership. 
He  is  prominently  connected  with  the  Chicago  Medical  Society, 
the  Practitioners'  Club,  the  Medico-Legal  Society,  and  the  Chicago  Ortho- 
pedic Society,  of  which  latter  body  he  was  the  first  President.  He  also  be- 
longs to  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  has  been  elected  an  honorary 
member  of  a  like  organization  in  Colorado,  and  is  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Winnebago  County  (Illinois)  Medical  Society.  Of  the  American  Orthopedic 
Association  he  is  a  charter  member,  serving  as  its  Secretary  from  1891  to 
1894,  its  President  in  1894-95,  and  again  holding  the  Secretaryship  from 
1895  to  the  present  time.  He  is  a  corresponding  member  of  the  British 
Orthopedic  Society.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, and  has  taken  a  prominent  part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Con- 
gress of  American  Physicians  and  Surgeons. 

As  a  writer,  Dr.  Ridlon  is  at  once  profound,  clear  and  trenchant ;  and 
his  rare  ability  has  been  recognized  by  journals  in  both  hemispheres.  From 
1888  to  1892  he  was  editor  of  the  orthopedic  department  of  the  Analectic, 
of  Xew  York.  From  1891  to  1897  he  was  one  of  the  editors  of  the  ortho- 
pedic department  of  the  Medical  Annual  of  Bristol,  England,  and  is  an  asso- 
ciate editor  of  the  Annalcs  d'Orthopcdic,  of  Paris.  He  is  also  the  writer  of  all 
the  articles  relating  to  Orthopedy  in  the  supplementary  volume  of  Wood's 
"Reference  Hand-book  of  the  Medical  Sciences."  Since  1890  he  has  pre- 
pared some  forty  papers  for  various  medical  journals,  all  which  have  attracted 
wide  notice  because  of  their  profound  research  and  perspicacity  of  style,  and 
has  been  joint  author  with  Robert  Jones,  F.  R.  C.  S.,  of  Liverpool,  England, 
of  a  volume  of  lectures  on  Orthopedic  Surgery.  A  partial  list  of  his  publica- 
tions is  given  in  a  succeeding  paragraph. 

Dr.  Ridlon  was  married,  on  June  4,  1879,  to  Miss  Emily  Caroline 
Robinson,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  the  ceremony  being  solemnized  at 
Trinity  Church,  in  that  city.  She  is  the  daughter  of  the  late  John  Rudd 
Robinson  and  Mrs.  Margaret  J.  Kearney-Robinson,  of  Newport.  Nine  chil- 
dren have  been  born  of  their  union. 

Dr.  Ridlon  is  author  of  the  following  valuable  contributions  to  medical 
literature :  "A  Splint  for  the  Treatment  of  Deformity  at  the  Knee  Joint  Due 
to  the  Reflex  Muscular  Spasm  of  Chronic  Osteitis,"  Medical  Record  January 
5,  1884.  "Continuous  Traction  in  the  Treatment  of  Pott's  Disease,"  Med- 
ical Record,  February  7,  1885.  "Notes  on  Two  Cases  of  Pott's  Disease, 
Illustrating  the  Difficulty  of  Diagnosticating  between  Upper  Dorsal  and 
Lower  Cervical  Caries  in  Very  Young  Children,"  Medical  Record,  August 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  183 

20,  1887.  "Remarks  on  Exercise  Without  Fatigue  in  the  Treatment  of 
Pulmonary  Tuberculosis,"  Medical  Record,  July  7,  1888.  "Rest  in  the  Treat- 
ment of  Chronic  Joint  Disease,"  Medical  Record,  September  15,  1888.  "On 
the  Treatment  of  Rotary  Lateral  Curvature  of  the  Spine,"  Brooklyn  Medical 
Journal,  October,  1888.  "Double  Hip  Disease,  a  Report  of  Fourteen  Con- 
secutive Cases,  with  Conclusions,"  Transactions  of  the  American  Ortho- 
pedic Association,  Vol.  i,  1889.  "Early  Diagnosis  of  Lateral  Curvature  of 
the  Spine,"  Medical  and  Surgical  Reporter,  May  25,  1889.  "Notes 
on  Two  Cases  of  Hip  Disease  in  which  Traction  Caused  Severe 
Pain,"  Medical  Chips,  August,  1889.  "Some  Practical  Points  in 
the  Mechanical  Treatment  of  Hip  Disease,  with  Special  Reference 
to  the  Use  of  Thomas's  Splint,"  Virginia  Medical  Monthly,  October,  1889. 
"Report  of  a  Case  of  Congenital  Dislocation  of  the  Hip,"  Medical  Record, 
November  16,  1889.  "Fixation  and  Traction  in  the  Treatment  of  Hip  Dis- 
ease," Neiv  York  Medical  Journal,  February  15,  1890.  "The  Thomas  Hip 
Splint,"  Nezv  York  Medical  Journal,  April  5,  1890.  "Report  of  a  Case  of 
Congenital  Deformity,"  Archives  of  Pediatrics,  June,  1890.  "Report  of  a 
Case  of  Deformity  of  the  Shoulder,"  Medical  Record,  September  .13,  1890. 
"A  Report  of  Sixty-two  Cases  of  Hip  Disease,"  New  York  Medical  Journal, 
October  4,  1890.  "The  Non-operative  Treatment  of  Delayed  Union  in 
Fractures  of  the  Leg,"  Medical  Record,  January  31,  1891.  "Supra-cotyloid 
Dislocation,"  New  York  Medical  Journal,  May  23,  1891.  "Syphilitic  Spon- 
dylitis  in  Children,"  Medical  Nezvs,  October  17,  1891.  "Fractures  of  the 
Neck  of  the  Femur;  with  a  Report  of  Twelve  Cases  Treated  by  the  Thomas 
Hip  Splint,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  August  15,  1892.  "Rotary  Lateral 
Deformity  of  the  Spine  in  Pott's  Disease,"  Medical  Record,  September  17, 
1892.  "Principles  of  Treatment  of  Chronic  Joint  Disease,  with  some  Re- 
marks on  Pathology,"  N&rth  American  Practitioner,  October ,  1892. 
"Spondylitis,"  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  December  10, 
1892.  "The  Treatment  of  Spondylitis,"  a  series  of  four  articles,  North 
American  Practitioner,  December,  1892,  to  February,  1893.  "Operative 
Measures  in  the  Treatment  of  Spondylitis,"  Medical  Index,  February,  1893. 
"Disease  in  the  Sacro-iliac  Articulation,"  Annals  of  Surgery,  March,  1893. 
"The  Diagnosis  and  Prognosis  of  Spondylitis,"  Transactions,  Colorado 
State  Medical  Society,  1896.  "Some  Unusual  Congenital  Deformities." 
Transactions,  American  Orthopedic  Association,  1896.  "Adolescent  Rickets: 
the  Report  of  a  Case,"  American  Journal  of  Surgery  and  Gynecology,  1896. 
"Diagnosis  and  Principles  of  Treatment  of  Hip  Joint  Disease,"  Transactions, 
Colorado  State  Medical  Society,  1895.  "Flat-foot,"  Chicago  Medical  Re- 
corder, August,  1896.  "Symptoms  and  Treatment  of  Hip  Disease,"  Transac- 
tions, Iowa  State  Medical  Society,  1898.  "Forcible  Straightening  of  Spinal 


1 84  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Curvatures  during  Complete  Anesthesia,"  Journal  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  March  26,  1898.  "Forcible  Straightening  of  Spinal  Curva- 
ture," Transactions,  American  Orthopedic  Association,  1898.  "Forcible 
Straightening  of  Spinal  Curvatures,"  American  Gynecological  and  Obstetri- 
cal Journal,  December,  1898.  "Mechanical  Treatment  of  Hip  Joint  Disease," 
Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  June,  1899. 


JOHN  E.  OWENS,  M.  D. 

> 

Of  this  eminent  physician  and  surgeon,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  writes : 
"John  Edwin  Owens  was  born  in  Cecil  county,  Maryland,  October  15,  1836, 
received  a  good  general  Academic  education,  and  graduated  in  medicine  from 
Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  in  1852.  After  serving  a  short  time 
as  Resident  Physician  at  Blockley  Hospital,  he  came  to  Chicago  in  1863.  The 
St.  Luke's  Hospital  had  only  just  completed  its  organization  at  that  time, 
and  Dr.  Owens  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Surgical  Staff  and  elected  a 
member  of  its  Board  of  Directors,  both  of  which  positions  he  still  holds. 
From  1867  to  1871  he  was  Lecturer  on  Surgical  Diseases  of  the  Urinary 
Organs,  in  Rush  Medical  College.  From  1871  to  1882  he  lectured  on  the 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery  in  the  same  College.  In  1882  he  ac- 
cepted the  Chair  of  Surgical  Anatomy  and  Operations  of  Surgery  in  the 
Chicago  Medical  College — Medical  Department  of  Northwestern  Univer- 
sity— which  he  held  until  1891,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Chair  of 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery  and  of  Clinical  Surgery,  which  position 
he  still  holds.  He  served  as  Medical  Director  of  the  World's  Columbian  Ex- 
position of  1893.  For  several  years  he  has  been  a  prominent  member  of  the 
National  Organization  of  Railway  Surgeons,  being  Chief  Surgeon  for  two 
important  railroad  companies.  It  will  be  thus  seen  that  Dr.  Owens  has  been 
for  more  than  thirty  years  prominently  connected  with  the  Medical  Schools 
and  Hospitals  of  this  city,  and  has  maintained  throughout  an  excellent  repu- 
tation as  a  skilled  Surgeon,  a  thoroughly  practical  teacher,  both  clinical  and 
didactic,  and  as  an  honorable  man  in  every  relation  of  life.  He  has  made  but 
few  contributions  to  medical  literature,  but  has  retained  an  active  membership 
in  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  the 
Chicago  Medical  Society  and  the  Chicago  Medico-Legal  Society."  He  is  also 
a  member  of  the  American  Surgical  Association  and  the  Chicago  Surgical 
Society. 

Dr.  John  Ridlon  writes :  "Dr.  John  E.  Owens  has  held  a  leading  place 
in  surgery  in  Chicago  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  is  Senior 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  185 

Surgeon  to  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  President  of  its  Medical  Board,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  He  has  been  Professor  of  Surgery  in  North- 
western University  Medical  School  for  many  years,  and  before  that  was 
Professor  of  Orthopedic  Surgery  in  Rush  Medical  College.  He  is  the  Chief 
Surgeon  of  the  Illinois  Central  and  of  the  Northwestern  railways,  and  was 
Medical  Director  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  in  1893. 

"A  glance  at  the  above  honorable  positions  gives  the  key  to  the  make-up 
(ensemble)  of  the  man.  He  is  a  thoroughly  equipped  surgeon,  a  man  of 
great  good  sense  and  of  broad  comprehension  of  affairs,  a  man  who  readily 
gains  and  holds  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  leaders  of  men." 


JOHN    EVANS,  M.  D. 

John  Evans,  M.  D.,  a  founder  of  Evanston  and  the  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity, and  one  of  the  foremost  citizens  of  Denver  from  1862,  when  he 
was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Colorado,  by  President  Lincoln, 
died  at  Denver,  Colorado,  July  3,  1897,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

Illinois  and  Colorado  may  well  have  a  local  pride  in  the  works  of  John 
Evans,  because  of  the  double  role  he  filled,  so  well,  in  both  States,  as  pioneer 
settler  and  generous  public-spirited  citizen.  He  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  Chicago's  suburb  of  Evanston,  and  after  him  the  "village"  north  of 
Chicago  was  named.  He  was  connected  most  prominently  with  Chicago's 
early  growth,  with  the  building  of  its  tributary  railroad  system,  and  with 
the  founding  of  some  of  its  chief  hospitals  and  institutions  of  learning.  He 
was  once  Governor  of  Colorado,  having  been  appointed  to  that  office  by 
President  Abraham  Lincoln,  when  Colorado  was  a  Territory.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  University  of  Denver,  patterned  after  the  Northwestern  Uni- 
versity of  Evanston,  and  constructed  Denver's  electric  railway  system.  The 
first  Methodist  Church  in  Denver  was  also  built  by  him. 

Dr.  Evans  was  born  in  Waynesville,  Indiana,  March  9,  1814,  studied 
medicine,  and  graduated  from  the  Medical  Department  of  Cincinnati  College 
in  1838.  In  Attica,  Indiana,  he  first  set  up  his  sign  as  M.  D.,  and  secured 
a  comfortable  practice,  becoming  in  time  Superintendent  of  the  Insane  Asy- 
lum. Dr.  Evans  came  to  Chicago  in  1848,  to  lecture  in  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege. Though  of  Quaker,  ancestry,  he  was  not  of  a  religious  nature,  but  of  a 
speculative  turn  of  mind,  in  early  life.  His  conversion  at  this  time  marked 
a  turning-point  in  his  career,  and  it  happened  in  this  way.  He  was  attracted 
to  hear  Bishop  Matthew  Simpson  lecture  on  "Education."  He  took  a  re- 
markable liking  to  the  lecturer,  and  went  to  hear  him  preach  the  next  day. 


186  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

The  earnestness  of  the  sermon  caused  his  ears  to  ring  with  the  name  of 
God,  as  he  afterward  declared,  and  he  at  once  joined  the  Methodist  Church. 
At  the  solicitation  of  Bishop  Simpson,  he  decided  to  make  Chicago  his  home. 
He  was  appointed  Professor  of  Obstetrics  in  Rush  Medical  College,  and  was 
actively  engaged  in  medical  practice  for  a  few  years.  He  ceased  the  practice 
of  medicine,  however,  and  invested  in  real  estate,  making  his  office  head- 
quarters in  the  Evans  block,  built  by  himself  and  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard,  Dr. 
Evans  becoming  in  time  proprietor  of  the  whole  building,  by  the  purchase 
soon  afterward  of  Dr.  Brainard's  interest.  This  building  was  located  on  the 
east  side  of  Clark  street,  just  south  of  the  alley,  between  Randolph  and  Lake 
streets,  and  opposite  the  "Sherman  House."  Included  in  the  block  were  the 
Chicago  post  office,  which  in  a  limited  space  did  a  limited  business,  and  the 
editorial  rooms  of  the  Chicago  Tribune. 

It  was  through  its  great  university,  the  Northwestern,  that  Dr.  Evans 
became  identified  in  name  with  the  University's  site,  at  Evanston.  In  1848, 
with  his  friend,  Bishop  Simpson,  he  went  to  that  place,  where  they  found 
only  a  few  cottages  and  thatched  houses.  Dr.  Evans  insisted  that  the  vil- 
lage should  bear  the  divine's  name,  and  the  latter  insisted  that  it  should  bear 
the  name  of  Evanston.  The  daughter  of  Orington  Lunt,  the  father  of 
Evanston,  was  asked  to  arbitrate  the  question,  and  she  named  the  town 
Evanston.  Dr.  Evans  was  made  President  of  this  institution  at  Evanston, 
and  endowed  it  richly  from  time  to  time. 

It  was  through  his  efforts  the  first  high  school  in  Chicago  was  built. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  City  Council,  and  bent  all  his  energies  toward 
giving  Chicago  a  complete  educational  system.  -  It  was  while  in  the  Council 
he  prepared  and  introduced  the  ordinance  providing  for  a  City  Superinten- 
dent of  Schools.  He  also  secured  the  passage  in  the  Legislature  of  the  bill 
perpetually  ensuring  the  property  of  the  university  at  Evanston  from  taxa- 
tion. In  railroads  Dr.  Evans  also  became  interested,  and  in  this  and  in  real 
estate  laid  the  nucleus  of  his  great  fortune.  He  built  the  Fort  Wayne  & 
Chicago  railroad,  and  it  was  his  shrewd  foresight  which  gave  the  Pennsyl- 
vania railroad  its  splendid  terminal  facilities  in  Chicago. 

Dr.  Evans  was  also,  while  in  Chicago,  a  prominent  contributor  to 
scientific  journalism,  and  was  at  one  time  editor  of  the  Northwestern  Medi- 
cal and  Surgical  Journal,  and  was  also  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Methodist 
Book  Concern  and  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advocate.  He  was  a  delegate 
to  the  convention  which  nominated  Lincoln,  and  was  one  of  his  most  en- 
thusiastic supporters  in  the  great  wigwam  convention.  He  was  offered  the 
Territorial  Governorship  of  Washington,  but  declined,  in  1867,  however, 
accepting  the  Territorial  Governorship  of  Colorado.  In  that  State  he  remain- 
ed and  devoted  himself  to  railway  and  educational  work.  The  first  railroad 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  187 

in  Colorado  was  promoted  by  him,  connecting  Denver  with  the  Union  Pacific 
at  Cheyenne.  He  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  foremost  citizens  of  Colo- 
rado, and  was  elected  United  States  Senator,  but  his  election  was  rendered 
void  by  President  Johnson's  veto  of  the  bill  making  the  Territory  a  State. 
Within  the  last  eight  years  of  his  life  he  constructed  one  of  the  most  perfect 
systems  of  electric  railways  in  the  country,  in  Denver,  his  last  great  work. 


WELLER  VAN  HOOK,  M.  D. 

A  long  line  of  honorable  ancestry  is  a  priceless  heritage  entailing  grave 
responsibilities — responsibilities,  however,  that  are  the  more  easily  borne  be- 
cause of  the  sturdy  characteristics  handed  down  fro'm  generation  to  genera- 
tion. On  the  Hoeck,  in  Holland,  dwelt  the  family  of  Van  Hook,  or,  as  the 
name  was  originally  spelled,  Van  Hoeck.  Of  this  family  two  brothers  came 
to  America  in  the  early  days,  one  settling  in  Albany,  New  York,  and  the 
other  in  Maryland,  the  latter' s  descendants  moving  to  Kentucky.  From  those 
who  made  their  home  near  Marysville  and  Cynthiana,  Kentucky,  is  descended 
that  noted  physician  and  surgeon  of  Chicago,  Weller  Van  Hook,  than  whom 
no  man  in  the  medical  profession  in  the  West  is  better,  known.  Through 
intermarriages  with  descendants  of  different  nationalities,  the  Van  Hooks 
of  the  present  generation  can  boast  of  English,  Scottish,  Irish,  French  and 
German  lineage,  as  well  as  the  original  Dutch.  The  family  was  represented 
in  the  French  and  Indian  war,  the  Revolution  (one  being  a  captain),  the 
war  of  1812,  and  on  both  sides  in  the  Civil  war. 

Dr.  Weller  Vaa  Hook  was  born  near  Louisville,  Kentucky,  May  14, 
1862,  a  son  of  William  R.  and  Matilda  (Weller)  Van  Hook.  William  R. 
Van  Hook  was  educated  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  medicine,  taking  his 
degree  in  1859,  at  the  University  of  Louisville.  He  was  an  Assistant-Sur- 
geon in  the  Union  army  during  the  Civil  war,  after  which  he  practiced  medi- 
cine at  Buffalo,  about  twenty-five  miles  east  of  Springfield,  in  Sangamon 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  made  his  home  until  1872,  when  he  removed  to  Illio- 
polis.  Illinois,  where  he  made  his  home  until  1883.  He  then  gave  up  active 
practice  and  resided,  respectively,  in  Chicago,  Springfield,  and  El  Paso, 
Illinois.  He  died  in  September,  1898,  and  his  wife  died  in  1890. 

Weller  Van  Hook  passed  the  early  part  of  his  life  in  central  Illinois. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  went  to  Louisville,  where  he  attended  the  Male  High 
School  for  three  years,  beginning  the  four  years'  course  as  a  Freshman,  but 
concluding  the  term  of  work  in  one  year  less  than  the  usual  time,  and  gradu- 
ating with  honors  in  1881.  Leaving  Louisville  he  went  to  Ann  Arbor, 


1 88  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Michigan,  where  he  attended  the  University,  entering  as  a  Sophomore  in  the 
course  leading  to  the  degree  of  A.  B.  While  completing  this  course,  he  was 
able,  on  account  of  the  fact  that  he  had  entered  with  more  work  to  his  credit 
than  necessary  according  to  the  rules  of  the  institution,  to  take  a  year's 
work  in  medicine;  consequently  upon  receiving  his  baccalaureate  degree,  he 
was  able  to  finish  at  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  with  the  degree 
of  M.  D.,  in  1885. 

Having  passed  the  competitive  examination  for  Cook  County  Hospital, 
Dr.  Van  Hook  entered  upon  his  duties  as  Interne  there  in  the  fall  of  1885, 
and  served  until  the  spring  of  1887.  Several  years  of  practice  were  spent 
on  the  West  Side  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  during  which  Dr.  Van  Hook  taught 
in  the  Dispensary  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  later  held 
the  Chair  of  Surgical  Pathology  and  Bacteriology  in  association  with  Dr. 
Bayard  Holmes.  This  work  involved  the  delivery  of  two  lectures  per,  week  on 
Surgical  Pathology,  and  a  simultaneous  laboratory  course.  Toward  the  latter 
portion  of  this  period  he  was  also  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Post  Graduate 
Medical  School  of  Chicago,  where  two  clinics  per  week  were  held.  In 
August,  1894,  he  went  abroad  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  his  medical 
studies.  His  time  was  divided  between  the  larger  medical  centers  of  the 
Continent  and  London.  During  this  period  but  little  attention  was  paid  to 
the  immediate  subject  of  Surgery,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  this  was  the  ulti- 
mate object  of  the  work,  it  being  the  belief  of  the  Doctor  that  the  best 
preparation  for  Surgery,  aside  from  the  technique  of  the  subject,  was  to  be 
found  in  the  study  of  Pathology,  Anatomy  and  other  topics  closely  associated 
with  Surgical  Diagnosis. 

Returning  in  the  spring  of  1895  after  an  absence  of  more  than  eight 
months,  work  was  begun  in  the  Chicago  Policlinic,  in  which  the  Doctor  still 
holds  a  Chair  of  Surgery.  In  the  fall  of  1895  he  entered  the  Surgical  De- 
partment of  the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School,  where  he  is  now 
Professor,  of  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery.  In 
the  fall  of  1896  he  was  appointed  to  a  Surgeoncy  in  the  German  Hospital, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1897  to  a  similar  position  in  Wesley  Hospital.  In  former 
years  he  served  as  Surgeon  to  Cook  County  Hospital,  and  is  now  perform- 
ing his  duties  regularly  in  that  institution,  where  he  holds  clinics  with 
especial  reference  to  the  requirements  of  the  Woman's  Medical  School,  in 
which  he  is  also  Professor  of  Surgery.  At  present  the  Doctor  is  holding  one 
clinic  each  week  at  Cook  County  Hospital,  and  one  clinic  at  the  Northwestern 
University  Medical  School,  besides  lecturing  twice  a  week  on  General  Sur- 
gery in  the  latter  institution. 

Dr.  Van  Hook  has  been  active  in  medical  literature,  having  prepared  a 
number  of  papers,  the  tides  of  a  few  of  which  follow :  "Tuberculosis  of  the 


LIBRARY 

OF  ILLINOIS 
URBAN/I 


/Y     ri* 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  189 

Sacro-iliac  Joint;"  "The  Surgery  of  the  Ureter,"  Journal  of  the  American 
Medical  Association,  June,  1893;  and  "Air  Distention  in  Operations  upon 
the  Biliary  Passages,"  Annals  of  Surgery. 

Of  him  and  his  work,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  has  written :  "Dr.  Weller 
Van  Hook  of  Chicago,  after  a  good  general  education,  studied  medicine  and 
graduated  from  the  Chicago  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  1885, 
entered  directly  into  practice  in  this  city,  and  soon  showed  a  predilection  for, 
Surgery.  With  industry,  integrity,  and  excellent  natural  endowments  he 
has  advanced  rapidly  to  an  enviable  position  both  as  teacher  and  practitioner, 
especially  in  the  development  of  surgery.  He  is  now  Professor  of  Surgery  in 
Northwestern  University  Medical  School,  and  in  the  Chicago  Policlinic ;  At- 
tending Surgeon  to  Cook  County  and  Wesleyan  Hospitals;  an  active  member 
of  the  regular  local,  State  and  national  Medical  Societies,  and  a  valuable  con- 
tributor to  Medical  literature." 

In  1892  Doctor  Van  Hook  was  united  in  marriage  with  Anna  Charles 
Whaley,  who  is  descended  from  the  Whaleys,  or  Whalleys,  of  Maryland. 
The  family  was  founded  in  this  country  by  the  famous  regicide  Judge 
Whalley,  who  fled  from  England  and  settled  in  Rhode  Island. 


FRANKLIN  H.  MARTIN,  M.  D. 

Franklin  H.  Martin,  M.  D.,  who  ranks  as  a  leading  American  specialist 
in  Gynecology  and  Abdominal  Surgery,  comes  of  stalwart  stock  in  both  the 
paternal  and  maternal  lines.  His  father's  family  were  among  the  early  set- 
tlers of  Vermont,  where  their  original  seat  was  near  the  Canadian  frontier.  A 
branch  thereof,  however,  removed  to  New  York,  where  Edmond  Martin, 
the  father  of  Dr.  Martin,  was  born.  He  accompanied  his  parents  to  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  grew  to  maturity  and  married  Miss  Josephine  Carlin.  He 
served  with  gallantry  and  distinction  in  the  Nineteenth  Wisconsin  Regiment 
during  the  Civil  war,  and  lost  his  life  in  the  service.  His  wife's  father, 
Alexander  W.  Carlin,  was  descended  from  a  family  who  emigrated  from  the 
North  of  Ireland  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania.  There  she  was  born,  but  before 
she  had  passed  her  girlhood,  her  parents,  too,  found  a  home  in  the  "Badger 
State."  Alexander  W.  Carlin  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  having  taken  the 
first  team  of  horses  into  Southern  Wisconsin. 

Franklin  H.  Martin  was  born  on  a  farm  near  Oconomowoc,  Wisconsin, 
July  13,  1857.  When  he  was  a  boy  of  ten  years,  the  family  removed  to 
Milwaukee,  but  remained  in  that  city  only  a  year,  returning  to  Oconomowoc, 
where  young  Franklin  lived  until  his  sixteenth  year.  Being  a  strong,  self- 


i9o  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

reliant  youth,  and  his  father  determining  that  he  should  learn  a  trade,  he  was 
apprenticed  to  a  millwright  in  •Minneapolis.  The  natural  proclivities  of  the 
youth,  however,  were  in  another  direction.  After  spending  a  year  in  Minn- 
eapolis he  returned  home,  and  attended  school  until  1877,  in  which  year  he 
entered  the  office  of  Dr.  \V.  C.  Spaulding,  of  Watertown,  Wisconsin,  as  a 
student  of  medicine.  Native  aptitude  for  getting  along,  and  a  strong  natural 
bias  for  his  chosen  profession,  caused  him  to  make  rapid  progress.  In  due 
time  he  matriculated  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College — now  the  Northwestern 
University  Medical  School — receiving  his  degree  in  1880.  Immediately 
after  graduation  he  was  a  successful  contestant  in  a  competitive  examination, 
for  the  post  of  House  Physician  and  Assistant  Surgeon  at  Mercy  Hospital. 
Upon  sundering  his  connection  with  that  institution,  he  launched  forth  in 
general  practice,  but  before  many  years  had  passed  it  was  evident  that  genius 
and  inclination  had  destined  him  to  become  a  specialist.  His  success  as  a 
practitioner  was  pronounced  from  the  outset.  He  was  among  the  first  to  in- 
vestigate the  value  of  electricity  as  a  therapeutic  and  surgical  agent,  and  was 
one  of  the  first  thinkers  and  instructors  in  America  to  introduce  the  technical 
study  of  Apostoli's  method  for  the  use  of  strong  electrolytic,  or  chemical 
galvano-caustic,  currents  in  the  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  the  female  gen- 
erative organs,  and  especially  of  uterine  fibroids.  On  this  general  subject  he 
has  written  extensively  and  with  rare  force,  logic  and  perspicacity.  In  1892 
he  published  a  work  along  these  lines  which  at  once  brought  him  fame  as  an 
author,  its  title  being  "Electricity  in  Diseases  of  Women  and  in  Obstetrics." 
A  second  edition  was  issued  from  the  press  the  following  year.  Since  then  he 
has  been  the  author  of  several  brochures,  some  of  which  are  mentioned  in  a 
succeeding  paragraph,  but  the  manifold,  multiple  and  exacting  demands  upon 
his  time  leave  him  but  little  leisure  to  contribute  the  results  of  his  scientific, 
painstaking  researches  to  the  benefit  of  the  profession.  As  an  investigator, 
he  is  tireless,  scrupulous  and  accurate:  as  a  teacher  simple,  in  his  demonstra- 
tions; while  as  an  author,  his  style  is  remarkably  clear  and  direct.  About  the 
time  of  publishing  his  first  work  (1892)  Dr.  Martin  announced  his  intention 
of  confining  himself,  thenceforward,  to  his  own  chosen  specialties,  Gynecology 
and  Abdominal  Surgery,  and  from  the  carrying  out  of  this  resolve  he  has 
never  swerved. 

His  research  and  skill  have  won  him  many  honors.  He  is  an  esteemed 
ind  valued  member  of  the  Chicago  Medical  and  Chicago  Gynecological  So- 
cieties, as  well  as  of  the  American  Medical  Association.  Of  the  Gynecologi- 
cal Society  he  was  president  in  1895,  ancl  m  tne  same  year  was  Chairman  of 
the  Gynecological  Section  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 

The  Medical  Colleges  of  Chicago  have  not  been  slow  in  recognizing  his 
worth,  alike  as  a  student,  as  a  specialist  and  as  a  teacher.  His  first  pro- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  191 

fessorship  of  Gynecology  was  in  the  Policlinic.  In  1888  he  was  one  of  the 
charter  incorporators  of  the  Post  Graduate  Medical  School,  of  which  he 
has  been  secretary  since  its  organization,  while  at  the  same  time  he  ably  fills 
the  Chair  of  Gynecology  and  Clinical  Gynecology  and  Abdominal  Surgery. 
Here  he  conducts  weekly  (and  sometimes  tri-weekly)  clinics,  as  occasion 
offers  or  -necessity  demands.  Many  of  his  subjects  come  from  the  adjacent 
Charity  Hospital,  in  connection  with  which  he  is  Gynecologist  and  Chief  of 
the  Medical  Staff.  He  occupies  a  similar  position  on  the  Staff  of  the 
Woman's  Hospital,  in  which  institution  he  performs  many  of  his  operations 
in  private  practice.  Of  the  latter  many  are  performed  in  other  hospitals. 

Dr.  Martin  has  not  only  devised  new  operations  in  his  own  special  line 
of  practice  and  surgery,  but  also  new  applications  of,  and  changes  in,  those 
suggested  and  introduced  by  others.  On  November  15,  1892,  he  originated 
and  successfully  performed  the  operation  known  as  "vaginal  ligation  of  the 
broad  ligament,"  for  the  cure  of  uterine  fibroid.  An  article  from  his  pen, 
giving  a  description  of  the  conduct  and  success  of  the  operation,  appeared  in 
the  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  April,  1893.  Six  other  cases,  treated  in 
the  same  way,  were  described  in  the  issue  of  the  same  journal  which  appeared 
in  the  following  January.  Both  articles — succinct  in  statement,  lucid  in  ex- 
planation and  convincing  in  argument — attracted  wide  notice  and  exerted  a 
potent  influence.  Surgeons  had  before  that  time  performed  many  operations 
which  merely  ligated  the  uterine  artery,  but  the  underlying  principle  of  those 
operations,  no  less  than  the  manner  of  their  execution,  differed  materially 
from  that  originated  by  Dr.  Martin.  His  method  cut  off  at  once  the  nourish- 
ment normally  furnished  by  both  blood  and  nerves,  the  immediate  result  being 
cessation  of  hemorrhage.  This  was  followed  by  atrophy  of  the  fibroid,  be- 
cause of  its  lack  of  nourishment  through  the  arteries  feeding  the  uterus,  the 
source  of  whose  nutrition  was  thus  radically  changed. 

Another  innovation  upon,  or  rather  modification  of,  previous  methods 
suggested  by  Dr.  Martin  has  attracted  no  little  attention  among  gyne- 
cologists, because  of  his  having  successfully  brought  it  into  practice.  The 
operation  in  question  is  that  known  as  ventro-suspension.  As  now  performed 
by  Dr.  Martin,  a  strip  of  the  peritoneum  is  brought  into  use  as  a  living  liga- 
ment. A  paper  describing  the  operation  thus  successfully  performed  was 
read  by  him  before  the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society  on  November  19,  1897, 
and  published  in  the  American  Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Journal,  Febru- 
ary, 1898.  In  this  paper  Dr.  Martin  points  out  that  the  employment  of  a 
living  ligament  is  superior  to  the  use  of  any  sort  of  suture,  and  that  it  admits 
of  far  greater  ease  and  range  of  motion.  It  was  he  also  who  devised  the 
modification  of  the  Alexander  operation,  by  which  one  of  the  round  ligaments 


I92  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

is  drawn,  subcutaneously,  through  to  the  other  side  and  tied  to  its  fellow  in 
the  median  line.  A  full  and  clear  description  of  this  modification,  in  which 
its  superiority  to  the  former  method  in  use  is  distinctly  and  conclusively 
shown,  may  be  found  on  page  468,  Vol.  VII,  American  Gynecological  and 
Obstetrical  Journal,  April,  1896. 

Among  the  large  number  of  very  grave  cases,  calling  for  the  exercise 
of  the  highest  skill  in  abdominal  surgery,  with  which  Dr.  Martin  has  been 
called  to  deal,  one  of  the  most  interesting,  as  well  as  most  important  in  its 
far  reaching  results,  was  a  distressing  case  of  cancer,  upon  which  he  was 
called  to  operate  in  the  summer  of  1897.  It  presented  squamous-celled 
epithelioma  of  the  cervix  uteri.  The  operation  of  vaginal  hysterectomy  was 
necessary,  and  during  its  performance  it  was  discovered  that  there  had  been 
early  involvement  of  the  walls  of  the  bladder.  Shortly  after  the  operation  a 
vesico-vaginal  fistula  developed.  Its  invasion  was  rapid,  and  the  death  of  the 
patient  soon  followed.  This  set  the  surgeon  to  thinking.  Conceiving  the 
idea  that  if  the  bladder  and  all  other  tissues  already  involved  in  the  carcino- 
matous  destruction  could  have  been  safely  cut  away  at  the  time  of  the  opera- 
tion, the  disease  might  have  been  arrested  and  the  patient's  life  saved,  he  began 
a  series  of  experiments  with  a  view  to  devising  an  operation  for  the  success- 
ful implantation  of  the  ureters  in  the  bowels,  so  that  the  bladder  itself  might 
be  removed  also,  when  involved  in  the  cancerous  process.  The  subjects  which 
he  selected  for  his  experimental  researches  were,  for  the  greater  part,  large 
dogs,  and  their  result  has  been  published.  His  first  report  was  made  to  the 
Chicago  Gynecological  Society  January  18,  1899,  and  was  published  in  the 
Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Journal  the  following  March  under  the  cap- 
tion "Experimental  Implantataion  of  the  Ureters  in  the  Bowels."  The  report 
covered  the  cases  of  three  dogs,  and  was  supplemented  by  one  from  Dr. 
Robert  Zeit,  the  pathologist.  Dog  No.  i  was  operated  upon  on  January  7, 
1898,  and  died  on  May  14,  following.  The  second  operation  mentioned  was 
performed  December  17,  1897,  the  subject  living  for  one  year.  Third  opera- 
tion was  performed  November  25,  1897,  and  the  dog  survived  until  December 
19,  1898.  These  were  the  three  most  successful  operations,  thirty-one  others 
being  mentioned  in  the  reports  in  which  the  animals  died  within  a  few  hours 
or  days.  The  results  were  on  the  whole  somewhat  disappointing,  but  it  oc- 
curred to  Dr.  Martin  that  there  had  been  no  attempt  made  to  form  a  valve 
at  the  site  of  the  implantation,  to  which  circumstances  might  possibly  be  at- 
tributed the  unmistakable  symptoms  of  infection  of  the  kidneys  due  to  the 
ascent  of  infection  through  the  ureters,  and  on  January  28,  1899,  there  ap- 
peared in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association  an  article  by  Dr. 
Martin,  in  which  he  described  a  new  operation  having  for  its  object  "the  mak- 
ing of  subsequent  infection  of  the  ureters  and  kidneys  impossible  after  double 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  193 

implantation  of  the  ureters  in  the  rectum."  In  March  following,  he  read  be- 
fore the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society  a  paper,  published  in  June,  1899,  in  the 
American  Gynecological  and  Obstetrical  Journal,  entitled  "Further  Report 
on  the  Implantation  of  the  Ureters  in  the  Rectum,  with  Exhibitions  of  Speci- 
mens." This  report  described  nine  operations  upon  animals,  two  of  whom 
survived.  One  of  these  two  cases  was  a  most  interesting  one.  The  subject 
of  the  experiment  was  a  dog,  and  the  operation  was  performed  December  22, 
1898.  Owing  to  the  unfortunate  circumstances  that  the  animal  contracted 
an  infectious  disease,  he  was  killed  on  March  n,  1899.  An  autopsy,  however, 
revealed  the  fact  that  the  left  kidney  was  practically  normal,  as  also,  appeared 
to  be  the  pelvis  of  the  right  kidney.  The  accompanying  report  of  the  patho- 
logist contained  the  pithy  statement,  "it  would  seem  that  what  operative  skill 
can  achieve  has  been  realized  here."  On  April  5,  1900,  by  invitation  of  the 
Philadelphia  Gynecological  Society,  Professor  Martin  read  before  that  body 
a  paper  having  for  its  title  "Removal  of  the  Bladder  as  a  Preliminary  to  and 
Co-incidental  with  Hysterectomy  for  Cancer,  in  order  to  extend  the  Possi- 
bilities of  Surgery  for  Malignant  Diseases  of  the  Pelvis."  In  this  contribu- 
tion to  medical  knowledge  the  Doctor  referred  to  his  previous  articles,  and  to 
some  extent  recapitulated  his  experiments.  He  compiled  a  list  of  seventy- 
four  cases  of  implantation  of  the  ureters,  in  various  ways,  four  of  which  were 
his  own.  He  fully  described  the  technique  of  his  operation,  and  went,  at 
some  length,  into  the  arguments  which  he  advances  in  its  favor.  He  also 
took  occasion  to  say :  "The  operation  is  a  most  formidable  one.  It  is  only 
when  one  is  face  to  face  with  something  more  formidable  that  a  bold  hand 
may  accept  this  harsh  remedy,  as  a  possible  means  of  relief,  rather  than 
submit  to  inevitable  defeat." 

Dr.  Martin's  chief  published  works  are:  "Electricity  in  Diseases  of 
Women  and  in  Obstetrics"  (1892);  and  "Treatment  of  Uterine  Fibroids, 
Medical,  Electrical  and  Surgical"  (1897).  Many  of  his  contributions  to  the 
current  literature  of  the  profession  have  been  already  mentioned,  and  to  the 
list  given  should  be  added  one  which  appeared  in  the  American  Gynecological 
and  Obstetrical  Journal  for  April,  1897,  entitled  "A  Plea  against  Hyster- 
ectomy, when  Removing  the  Ovaries  for  Septic  Pelvic  Diseases."  One  of 
his  best  papers  never  went  into  the  hands  of  the  compositor,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  his  professional  colleagues  earnestly  protested  against  its  appearance 
in  print.  A  brief  extract  from  it  appeared  in  the  American  Gynecological  and 
Obstetrical  Journal  for  March,  1899.  In  it  he  made  use  of  these  words: 
"I  wish  to  add  my  solemn  protest  against  the  use  of  pelvic  massage  as  a 
means  of  treatment  in  gynecology,  unless  the  patient  is  anaesthetized  to  the 
surgical  degree." 

Dr.  Martin  married  Miss  Isabelle,  the  only  child  of  Dr.  John  H.  Hollis- 

13 


i94  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

ter.  In  private  life  Dr.  Martin  is  genial,  social  and  kindly;  in  his  work, 
earnest  and  ambitious;  in  business  relations  quick-witted  and  far-sighted,  yet 
of  scrupulous  honor  and  integrity.  As  an  executive  officer  he  has  shown 
rare  capability,  fairness  and  singleness  of  purpose.  He  is  a  member  of  Ply- 
mouth Congregational  Church,  and  a  generous  contributor  to  its  work.  His 
benefactions  to  the  poor  are  liberal,  although  unostentatious,  and  he  and  his 
friends  are  the  main  supporters  of  Charity  Hospital,  of  which  he  may  be 
called  the  founder. 


JOSEPH  W.  FREER,  M.  D. 

Joseph  W.  Freer,  M.  D.,  was  born  in  Port  Ann,  New  York,  August  10, 
1816.  His  father,  Elias  Freer,  was  a  mechanic.  His  mother  was  Polly 
(Paine)  Freer,  from  Vermont.  His  parents  were  among  the  early  Dutch 
settlers  of  New  York  State,  along  the  Hudson  river.  They  subsequently  re- 
moved to  the  neighborhood  of  Auburn,  and  there,  in  a  select  school,  at 
Weedsport,  Joseph  W.  Freer  was  educated.  Until  sixteen  years  of  age  he 
assisted  his  father,  in  his  business,  attending  school  in  the  winter.  When  he 
had  reached  his  seventeenth  year  he  entered  a  dry-goods  store  in  Weedsport, 
and  shortly  afterward  removed  to  Clyde,  New  York,  and  entered  the  drug 
store  of  his  uncle,  Lemuel  C.  Paine,  a  prominent  physician  of  that  place. 
Here  he  learned  the  drug  business,  and  at  the  same  time  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine.  His  uncle  leaving  Clyde  and  removing  to  Albion,  he, 
shortly  after,  in  the  spring  of  1836,  at  the  solicitation  of  his  brother,  repaired 
to  Chicago  and  entered  his  employ.  Subsequently,  his  father  having  re- 
moved to  Wilmington,  Illinois,  he  joined  him  and  remained  with  him  for 
nine  years,  following  farming  and  stock  raising.  At  the  expiration  of  that 
time  he  returned  to  Chicago,  and  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard, 
as  a  pupil.  Here  he  remained  three  years,  attending  also,  at  the  same  time, 
lectures  in  Rush  Medical  College,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1849.  A 
short  time  before  his  graduation,  however,  he  located  himself  about  twenty 
miles  from  Chicago,  in  Cook  county,  and  commenced  practice,  continuing 
there  two  years. 

In  1849  Dr.  Freer  was  appointed  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  Rush 
Medical  College,  being  the  successful  one  out  of  a  list  of  twenty  applicants 
who  competed  for  the  appointment,  by  a  lecture  before  the  Faculty  of  the 
College.  This  position  he  filled  for  six  years,  and  at  the  same  time  lectured 
on  Descriptive  Anatomy.  In  1854  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Anatomy, 
which  Chair  he  held  until  his  appointment  as  Professor  of  Physiology  and 
Surgical  Anatomy,  in  1859.  In  1868  the  branch  of  Surgical  Anatomy  he 


LIBRARY 

OF  ILLINOIS 
URBAN* 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  195 

turned  over  to  Professor  Powell,  and  from  that  time  his  teaching  was  con- 
fined to  Physiology.  For  four  years  he  was  abroad,  returning  during  the 
session  in  winter  to  fill  his  Chair,  in  the  college.  He  was  one  of  the  surgeons 
to  Cook  County  Hospital.  He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Medical  Society, 
•as  well  as  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  at  times  he  contri- 
buted to  the  literature  of  the  profession.  He  also  gave  some  lectures  on 
vivisection. 

Dr.  Freer  was  married  in  1844  to  Emeline  Holden,  of  Illinois,  and 
again,  in  1848,  to  Catherine  Gatter,  a  native  of  Wurtemberg,  Germany. 

In  the  great  Chicago  fire  of  October,  1871,  he  lost  the  larger  part  of 
his  property;  but  with  characteristic  firmness  and  industry,  he  commenced 
anew  to  repair  his  pecuniary  losses,  and  further  still  to  increase  his  profes- 
sional reputation  and  influence.  He  enjoyed  an  excellent  reputation,  both  as 
a  surgeon  and  a  general  practitioner,  of  medicine.  He  was  a  successful 
teacher  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  and  a  firm  supporter  of  the  honor  and 
influence  of  the  profession.  After  a  severe  and  somewhat  protracted  illness, 
he  died  in  his  home  at  Chicago,  April  12,  1877,  leaving  his  family  in  com- 
fortable pecuniary  circumstances. 


SETH   SCOTT  BISHOP,  M.  D.,  D.  C.  L.,  LL.  D. 

Dr.  Seth  Scott  Bishop  is  known  to  the  medical  profession  of  two  hemi- 
spheres as  an  author,  inventor  and  specialist.  His  father,  Lyman  Bishop, 
and  his  mother,  Maria  (Probart)  Bishop,  of  English  and  Scotch  extraction, 
respectively,  were  born  and  reared  in  New  York.  Both  migrated  to  Wiscon- 
sin during  their  youth,  met  and  married  in  Fond  du  Lac  and  there  built  their 
home,  which  is  to  the  present  day  the  home  of  the  Doctor's  widowed  mother. 
More  than  fifty  years  of  residence  in  the  same  house  is  suggestive  of  that 
continuity  of  purpose  and  stability  of  character  which  are  prerequisites  of  a 
successful  career.  In  the  "Fountain  City,"  as  Fond  du  Lac  is  familiarly 
known,  this  eminent  surgeon  was  born  on  February  7,  1852.  He  attended  the 
public  schools  of  his  native  town  until  his  health  became  impaired,  but  when 
it  became  necessary  to  interrupt  his  studies  to  regain  his  health,  instead  of 
choosing  a  period  of  rest  he  preferred  a  change  of  occupation.  This  decision 
resulted  in  his  entering  a  printing  office  and  learning  the  trade  in  the  service 
of  the  Fond  du  Lac  Commomvealth,  during  which  time  he  regained  his 
health.  With  renewed  strength  the  subject  of  our  sketch  re-entered  school 
and  graduated  from  a  private  academy,  the  Pooler  Institute,  in  1870.  While 
pursuing  his  academic  course  he  edited  and  published  a  school  paper,  Tlie 


196  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Pen,  setting  the  type  and  printing  the  paper  outside  of  school  hours.  This 
practical  knowledge  of  the  art  of  printing  has  served  a  useful  purpose  during 
his  later  career  in  journal  and  book  work.  In  1871  and  1872  he  attended 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York.  In  the 
latter  part  of  this  course  he  was  offered  a  position  as  proof-reader  on  Col. 
Bundy's  New  York  Mail  and  Express,  at  twenty-one  dollars  per  week,  but 
as  he  had  not  yet  completed  his  course  at  the  University  he  declined  to 
abbreviate  it  even  for  an  offer  so  tempting,  as  compared  with  five  dollars  per 
week  on  the  Commonwealth,  which  necessitated  half  night  work. 

After  leaving  the  University  our  embryo  doctor  worked  for  a  short 
time  in  the  office  of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle,  and  then  applied  for  a  position  with 
the  publishing  firm  of  Harper  Brothers.     There  was  only  one  vacancy  to  be 
filled,  and  that,  being  in  the  magazine  department,  required  a  knowledge  of 
the  Greek  language,  which  had  not,  like  Latin,  been  included  in  his  academic 
studies.     Here  marked  an  important  turning-point  in  his  career.     Determined, 
to  lack  nothing  which  would  fit  him  for  any  position  he  might  wish,  he 
decided  to  acquire  a  higher  literary  education.     So,  with  the  aid  of  private 
tutors,  such  as  Rev.  T.  G.  Smith,  of  Fond  du  Lac,  and  Professor  Pettibone, 
he  accomplished  three  years  of  preparatory  work  in  a  year  and  a  quarter,  and 
then  pursued  a  classical  course  of  study  in  college  at  Beloit.    At  this  point  the 
college  boy's  health  again  failed,  and  for  another  diversion,  after  a  brief 
period  of  recreation,  he  turned  again  to  his  medical  books,  entered  the  Medi- 
cal  Department  of  the  Northwestern   University,   and  took  his   degree  of 
Doctor  of  Medicine  in  1876.     For  the  succeeding  three  years  the  Doctor  en- 
gaged in  general  practice  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  removing  to  Chicago 
in  1879.     In  the  wider  field  afforded  by  a  metropolis,  his  genius  has  found 
treer  scope,  and  his  career  during  the  past  twenty  years  has  been  a  succession 
of  professional  triumphs  and  a  record  of  benefits  rendered  to  suffering  human- 
ity.    Dr.  Bishop  has  served  on  the  medical  staffs  of  the  South  Side  and  the 
West  Side  Free  Dispensaries,  and  has  been  consulting  surgeon  to  the  Illinois 
Masonic  Orphans'  Home  ever  since  its  foundation.     He  is  a  surgeon  to  the 
Post-Graduate  Hospital,  and  to  the  Illinois  Hospital.     He  was  for  fifteen 
years  a  surgeon  to  the  Illinois  Charitable  Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  and  is  at 
present  consulting  surgeon  to  the  Mary   Thompson   Hospital,   and   to   the 
Silver  Cross  Hospital,  of  Joliet.     He  is  Professor  of  Otology  in  the  Chicago 
Post-Graduate  Medical  School,  and  Professor  of  Diseases  of  the  Nose,  Throat 
and  Ear  in  the  Illinois  Medical  College.     The  recently  established  Chicago 
Physiological  School,  which  is  in  affiliation  with  the  University  of  Chicago, 
has  appointed  him  a  Consulting  Surgeon  to  that  institution. 

During  his  widely  extended  practice,  covering  a  period  of  more  than 
two  decades,  Dr.  Bishop  has  frequently  found  himself  confronted  with  dif- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  197 

ficulties  arising  from  the  want  of  instruments  precisely  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  the  practitioner  in  his  own  special  department  of  work.  Bringing  to  bear 
upon  these  problems  his  own  technical  knowledge  and  an  aptitude  for  in- 
vention not  always  found,  even  in  the  most  eminent  practitioners,  he  has  de- 
vised various  instruments  and  appliances  which  have  been  extensively  adopted 
by  his  professional  brethren.  Among  these  are  a  massage  otoscope,  an  im- 
proved tonsillotome,  a  middle-ear  curette,  an  ossicle  vibrator,  a  compressed- 
air  meter,  an  adjustable  illuminating  apparatus,  a  light  concentrator,  a  cold- 
wire  snare,  an  improved  middle-ear  inflator,  a  camphor-menthol  inhaler  (he 
is  the  discoverer  of  camphor-menthol),  powder  blowers,  a  nasal  knife,  an 
automatic  tuning  fork,  an  ear  aspirator,  a  combined  periosteum  elevator, 
chisels,  gouges,  and  a  guide  for  mastoid  operations,  etc. 

He  is  an  honored  member  of  the  State  Medical  Societies  of  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota  and  Illinois,  of  the  Chicago  Pathological  Society,  the  Mississippi 
Valley  Medical  Association,  and  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  is 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  Hay  Fever  Association.  He  has  been 
repeatedly  chosen  to  represent  one  or  more  of  these  scientific  organizations 
at  the  meetings  of  the  International  Medical  Congress,  the  British  Medical 
Association,  and  the  Pan-American  Medical  Congress.  Before  most  of 
these  bodies  he  has  read  papers  and  delivered  addresses  of  rare  interest  and 
value.  Dr.  Bishop  has  also  contributed  extensively  to  medical  journals,  and 
is  an  author  of  high  repute.  He  is  a  clear  and  facile  writer,  and  his  many 
brochures  upon  various  subjects,  but  mostly  connected  with  Diseases  of  the 
Ear,  Nose  and  Throat  and  their  treatment,  have  attracted  wide  attention. 
Among  some  of  the  most  noteworthy  may  be  mentioned  those  entitled  "Hay 
Fever."  the  "Pathology  of  Hay  Fever."  both  being  first-prize  essays  of  the 
United  States  Hay  Fever  Association;  "Cocaine  in  Hay  Fever,''  a  lecture 
delivered  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College;  a  "Statistical  Report  of  Twenty- 
one  Thousand  Cases  of  Diseases  of  the  Ear.  Nose  and  Throat,"  etc.  His 
pratical  text-book  on  the  "Diseases  of  the  Ear,  Nose  and  Throat,  and  Their 
Accessory  Cavities."  appeared  in  1897.  Within  a  few  months  the  first  large 
edition  was  exhausted,  and  this  was  followed  by  enlarged  and  revised 
editions,  which  have  been  adopted  in  a  large  number  of  medical  colleges  as  a 
text-book.  The  Doctor  is  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Laryngoscope,  a  monthly 
journal  devoted  to  Diseases  of  the  Nose,  Throat  and  Ear,  which  has  a  wide 
circulation  in  all  English-speaking  countries,  and  he  is  the  editor  of  the  Illi- 
nois Medical  Bulletin. 

In  a  social  way  Dr.  Bishop  has  been  honored  by  membership  in  a  large 
number  of  fraternities,  beginning  with  the  college  Greek  letter  society,  the 
Beta  Theta  Pi.  Beloit  Chapter,  and  ending  with  the  orders  of  Knight 


198  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Templar,  the  Thirty-second  degree,  and  the  Shrine  in  Masonry.  His  family 
consists  of  his  wife  and  two  children,  Jessie  and  Mable,  and  they  are  his  in- 
separable companions  at  home  and  in  travel. 


RICHARD   DEWEY,  M.  D. 

Richard  Dewey,  whose  work  along  the  line  of  Mental  Diseases  has  made 
his  name  familiar,  was  born  in  Forestville,  Chautauqua  county,  New  York, 
in  1845,  an<l  grew  up  amid  the  scenes  of  country  life.  He  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools,  and  in  1864  was  graduated  from  Dwight's  high 
school,  Clinton,  New  York.  That  same  year  he  entered  the  Literary 
Department  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  after  two  years  of  careful 
and  painstaking  work  there  entered  the  Medical  Department  of  the  same  in- 
stitution, and  received  his  degree  of  M.  D.  in  1869.  Returning  to  his  native 
State,  he  went  to  Brooklyn,  where  he  passed  successfully  a  competitive  ex- 
amination which  secured  for  him.  six  months  service  as  resident  physician, 
and  six  months  as  resident  surgeon,  in  the  Brooklyn  City  Hospital.  At  the 
close  of  his  term  of  service  there  he  determined  to  have  a  wider  experience 
in  his  chosen  work  before  entering  upon  private  practice.  The  outbreak  of  the 
Franco-Prussian  war  offered  ample  facilities  for  the  practical  study  of  sur- 
gery, and  he  volunteered  as  Assistant  Surgeon,  through  the  German  Consul 
at  New  York.  He  was  stationed  in  the  field  hospital  at  Pont-a-Mousson,  near 
Metz,  France,  and  afterward  in  the  Reserve  Hospital  at  Hessen-Cassel,  Ger- 
many. Among  others  he  received  the  medal  "fur  Pflichttreue  im  Kriege." 
After  peace  was  concluded,  the  young  surgeon  was  honorably  discharged, 
and  he  at  once  went  to  Berlin,  where  for  one  semester  he  studied  under  Vir- 
chow  and  others  in  Berlin  University.  In  October,  1871,  Dr.  Dewey  re- 
turned to  America,  and  engaged  as  Assistant  Physician  at  the  State  Hospital 
for  the  Insane,  at  Elgin,  Illinois,  remaining  in  that  position  until  1879.  His 
faithful  services,  as  well  as  his  accurate  knowledge  and  careful  study,  won 
for  him  the  recognition  of  those  high  in  authority,  and  in  1879  ne  was  aP~ 
pointed  Medical  Superintendent  of  the  new  State  Hospital  at  Kankakee, 
Illinois,  where  his  executive  ability  became  an  important  factor  in  the  up- 
building of  the  new  institution.  This  was  constructed  on  what  is  known  as 
the  "cottage  plan,"  and  was  a  new  departure,  requiring  much  care  and  con- 
sideration. In  the  beginning,  in  1879,  there  were  seventy-five  patients,  while 
in  1893,  the  year  Dr.  Dewey  left,  there  were  two  thousand.  It  was  the  largest 
institution  of  the  kind,  save  one,  in  the  United  States.  In  1893,  in  Chicago, 
Dr.  Dewey  entered,  for  the  first  time,  upon  the  private  practice  of  the  pro- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  199 

fession,  but  his  fame  had  gone  abroad  and  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to  keep 
out  of  public  work.  In  1895,  in  addition  to  his  Chicago  practice,  he  was 
called  upon  to  take  charge  of  the  Milwaukee  Sanitarium,  at  Wauwatosa, 
Wisconsin,  a  suburb  of  Milwaukee.  Although  this  sanitarium  was  well 
established  when  Dr.  Dewey  took  charge,  it  has  since  rapidly  outgrown  its 
former  proportions. 

From  1894  to  1897  Dr.  Dewey  was  editor  of  the  American  Journal  of 
Insanity,  the  organ  of  the  American  Medico-Psychological  Association,  of 
which  association  he  was  President  in  1896.  He  occupies  the  Chair  of  Clin- 
ical Professor  of  Mental  Diseases  in  the  Northwestern  Medical  School  for 
Women,  and  a  similar  position  in  the  Post-Graduate  Medical  School  of 
Chicago,  and  is  connected  with  several  hospitals  in  Chicago  and  Milwaukee. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  National  societies,  the  American  Medico-Psychologi- 
cal Association,  the  American  Neurological  Association,  and  the  American 
Medical  Association,  and  the  State  Societies  of  Illinois  and  Wisconsin.  He 
is  an  honorary  member  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  of  the  Chicago 
Academy  of  Medicine,  and  of  the  Chicago  Medico-Legal  Society. 

Dr.  Dewey  was  married,  in  1873,  to  Lillian  Dwight,  of  Clinton.  New 
York,  who  died  in  1880.  She  was  a  woman  of  much  personal  worth  and 
charm,  a  great-granddaughter  of  Timothy  Dwight,  the  first  president  of  Yale 
College.  A  son,  Richard  Dwight,  and  a  daughter,  Ethel  Lillian,  were  born 
of  this  marriage.  In  1886  Dr.  Dewey  married  Mary  E.  Brown,  daughter  of 
Dr.  Thomas  A.  Brown,  of  Brighton,  New  York.  Miss  Brown  was  the  first 
superintendent  of  the  Illinois  Training  School  for  Nurses  and  is  herself  a 
graduate  of  medicine,  though  she  has  never  practiced.  She  has  been  univer- 
sally admired  and  beloved,  and  has  seconded  her  husband  in  his  labors  as  few 
could  have  done.  Two  children,  Ellinor  and  Donald,  have  been  born  to  this 
marriage. 


HENRY  BAIRD  FAVILL,  M.  D. 

The  surprising  success  attained  by  Dr.  Favill  as  practitioner,  instructor 
and  author  affords  a  notable  illustration  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  a 
mind  of  rare  native  power  and  ripe  culture,  when  supported  by  a  physique 
such  as  Nature  bestows  upon  only  a  few  of  her  chosen  sons.  Dr.  Favill  was 
born  August  14,  1860,  at  Madison,  Wisconsin,  and  was  educated  in  the  com- 
mon schools  of  that  city  and  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  graduating 
from  the  last  named  institution  at  the  early  age  of  twenty  years.  A  few 
months  after  receiving  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  he  began  his  profes- 
sional studies  at  Rush  Medical  College,  matriculating  in  September,  1880, 


200  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

and  receiving  his  diploma  in  1883.  His  standing  in  his  class  may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that,  a  vacancy  occurring  in  the  staff  of  Internes  at  the  Cook 
County  Hospital  during  his  Senior  year,  he  was  appointed  to  fill  the  position, 
holding  the  same  until  the  expiration  of  his  predecessor's  term.  Returning 
to  Madison,  he  began  practice  in  partnership  with  his  father,  a  prominent 
physician  of  that  city.  The  elder  Dr.  Favill  died  within  eight  months  after 
his  son's  return,  and  the  latter  continued  in  practice  there  alone  until  1893, 
for  three  years  being  connected  with  the  Law  School  of  the  State  University 
of  Wisconsin  as  Lecturer  on  Medical  Jurisprudence.  In  the  last  named  year 
(1893)  he  accepted  invitations  extended  to  him  by  the  Chicago  Policlinic 
and  Rush  Medical  Colleges  of  Chicago  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Medicine  in  the 
former  and  the  Adjunct  Professorship  of  Medicine  in  the  latter.  In  1898  he 
was  chosen  to  fill  the  Ingals  Professorship  of  Preventive  Medicine  and  Thera- 
peutics in  Rush  Medical  College,  and  in  1900  was  appointed  Professor  of 
Therapeutics. 

Dr.  Favill's  attainments  and  skill  commanded  recognition  from  the  out- 
set, from  his  professional  brethren  no  less  than  from  the  public  at  large,  and 
he  has  been  made  attending  physician  at  St.  Luke's,  the  Policlinic  and  the 
Passavant  Memorial  Hospitals.  In  writing  of  Dr.  Favill  and  his  career  since 
coming  to  Chicago  Dr.  Frank  Billings,  himself  one  of  the  most  eminent 
physicians  of  the  Northwest,  says :  "Dr.  Favill  has  been  in  Chicago  but 
little  more  than  six  years,  and  in  that  short  time  he  has  acquired  a  private 
and  consultation  practice  and  a  position  as  a  teacher  which  proclaim  to  the 
profession  what  his  personal  friends  have  always  known;  that  he  is  an  un- 
usually strong  man  mentally,  with  a  vigorous  personality,  backed  by  a  physi- 
cal make-up  which  carries  all  obstructions  and  impediments,  great  and  small, 
from  his  pathway." 

Dr.  Favill's  personal  appearance  is  at  once  striking  and  commanding. 
His  frame  is  large  and  strong,  and,  with  an  erect  bearing  and  firm  tread,  sug- 
gests the  soldier.  His  head  is  finely  shaped  and  well  poised,  his  mouth  indi- 
cates decision,  and  his  features  convey  the  impression  of  firmness  blended 
with  gentleness.  Affable  and  courteous,  he  has  the  intense,  innate  ab- 
horrence of  all  that  savors  of  deceit  or  pretense  which  is  characteristic  of  the 
true  man.  The  following  estimate  of  his  worth,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis,  Jr.,  will  be  read  with  interest :  "Dr.  Favill  is  full  of  energy,  decisive 
in  action,  and  prompt  to  appreciate  the  condition  of  his  patients.  These 
characteristics,  with  wide  experience  in  his  profession,  have  made  him  de- 
servedly a  most  popular  practitioner.  By  his  professional  brethren  he  is  liked 
for  his  genial  character  as  well  as  appreciated  highly  for  his  attainments. 
He  is  a  graceful  and  fluent  speaker." 

He  is  an  influential  and  honored  member  of  many  important  medical 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  201 

associations  and  societies,  among  the  best  known  of  which  are  the  American 
Medical  Association,  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  Chicago  Medical  Society, 
Chicago  Society  of  Internal  Medicine,  Chicago  Pathological  Society,  Wis- 
consin State  Medical  Society  and  American  Academy  of  Medicine.  As  a 
writer  he  is  clear  and  forceful,  and  while  not  a  prolific  author  some  of  his 
publications  are  recognized  as  among  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  the 
literature  of  his  profession.  Among  those  best  known  are  the  following: 
"The  Treatment  of  Chronic  Nephritis,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  August, 
1897;  "The  Treatment  of  Arterio-Sclerosis,"  Medical  News,  March  19,  1898; 
"Modern  Methods  of  Medical  Instruction"  (a  response  to  a  toast),  Journal 
of  the  American  Medical  Association,  April  9,  1898;  a  Paper  read  during 
participation  in  a  general  discussion  of  Rheumatism,  published  in  the  Journal 
of  the  American  Medical  Association;  "Toxic  Correlation,"  an  address  de- 
livered before  the  alumni  of  Rush  Medical  College,  and  published  in  the 
Inter-collegiate  Medical  Journal,  July,  1898;  an  address  on  "Rational  Diag- 
nosis" before  the  Wisconsin  State  Medical  Society,  published  in  the  Transac- 
tions of  the  organization  and  in  the  Western  Clinical  Recorder,  June,  1899. 


JOHN  HAMILCAR  HOLLISTER,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

The  eighth  lineal  descendant  of  John  Hollister,  who,  coming  from  Eng- 
land, settled  in  Glastonbury,  Connecticut,  in  1642,  is  John  Hamilcar  Hollister, 
son  of  Mary  (Chamberlain)  and  John  Bently  Hollister.  Marked  family  char- 
acteristics are  the  result  of  the  long  line  of  Puritan  and  Revolutionary  an- 
cestry, combining  strict  conscientiousness,  uprightness  and  integrity  with  man- 
liness, courageousness  and  an  unflinching  devotion  to  principle.  To  these 
Dr.  Hollister  is  no  stranger. 

He  was  born  in  1824  in  Riga,  New  York,  where  he  lived  but  two  years, 
his  parents  then  removing  to  Romeo,  Michigan,  where  the  early  part  of  his 
life  was  spent.  In  1831  the  father  died,  leaving  the  widow  with  three  little 
children,  of  whom  John,  then  seven  years  of  age,  was  the  eldest.  Consider- 
ing the  times  and  its  frontier  position,  exceptional  advantages,  both  educational 
and  social,  were  offered  by  the  town  of  Romeo.  Its  few  inhabitants  were  largely 
younger  members  of  old  New  England  families,  bringing  with  them  into  the 
new  West  a  demand  for  refinement  and  culture.  The  children  who  came  up 
under  this  influence  were  imbued  with  all  that  is  best  in  American  civilization. 
Having  diligently  availed  himself  of  all  the  advantages  offered  at  home,  the 
boy,  at  seventeen,  went  to  Rochester,  New  York,  to  pursue  his  studies  and 
determine  upon  his  life  work.  Here  he  resided  in  the  family  of  his  uncle, 


202  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

George  A.  Hollister,  a  wealthy  and  influential  citizen,  while  taking  a  full 
course  in  the  Rochester  Collegiate  Institute.  Deciding  upon  a  professional 
career,  he  returned  to  Massachusetts,  the  home  of  his  ancestors,  and  entered 
the  Berkshire  Medical  College,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1847.  The  mother 
and  home  were  still  in  Romeo,  and  the  West  claimed  the  new-made  doctor 
by  ties  not  to  be  sundered.  His  first  professional  experience  was  gained  at 
Otisco,  Michigan,  where  he  remained  until  1849,  when  he  removed  with  his 
family  to  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  and  where  his  brother  Harvey,  with 
whom  he  has  always  been  closely  associated,  still  resides.  In  this  year  he 
married  Miss  Jennette  Windiate,  to  whose  devotion,  sympathy  and  counsel 
much  of  his  subsequent  success  is  due.  After  six  happy  and  prosperous  years 
in  Grand  Rapids,  the  claims  of  Chicago  for  future  greatness  impressed  the 
young  man,  and  a  desire  to  be  in  the  midst  of  such  advantages  as  would  be 
offered  led  him,  in  1855,  to  locate  with  his  wife  and  son  in  ttiis  city.  From 
that  time  his  life  divides  itself  into  three  distinct  channels :  the  man  profes- 
sional, the  man  philanthropic,  the  man  domestic. 

In  his  profession  no  man  holds  a  higher  or  more  respected  position  than 
Dr.  Hollister.  As  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  successful  general  practitioners, 
he  is  widely  and  popularly  known  among  the  laity,  while  among  his  fellow 
physicians  his  career  has  been  such  as  to  merit  their  admiration  and  esteem. 
In  1856  he  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Chicago  Medical  College,  and  since 
its  organization  he  has  held  the  Chairs  of  Physiology,  Anatomy,  Pathological 
Anatomy  and  General  Pathology.  Aside  from  this  he  has  occupied  many 
positions  of  honor,  and  trust :  1855,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  at  Rush  Medical 
College;  1863-64,  Surgeon  to  Mercy  Hospital;  for  twenty  years  Clinical  Pro- 
fessor to  the  same  institution ;  Attendant  at  Cook  County  Hospital,  and  one  of 
the  presidents  of  its  Staff ;  President  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society  and 
its  Treasurer  for  over  twenty  years ;  Trustee  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation for  eight  years  and  editor  of  its  journal  for  two  years ;  member  and 
President  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society  and  charter  member  of  the  Academy 
of  Sciences.  These,  with  all  the  duties  pertaining  to  a  large  practice,  go  to 
make  up  the  professional  career  of  Dr.  Hollister.  True,  they  are  many,  and 
have  been  conscientiously  performed,  but  they  claimed  but  a  portion  of  his 
time. 

Surrounded  from  childhood  by  all  the  influences  of  a  devout  mother  and 
a  Christian  home,  his  life  has  been  one  long  consecration  to  his  Master's  work. 
The  minister  and  the  Christian  physician  go  side  by  side,  lightening  the  load 
of  sinful  and  sick  humanity.  The  opportunities  opening  on  every  side  for  a 
helping  hand  or  an  encouraging  word  in  such  a  life  are  incalculable,  and  those 
who  turned  to  Dr.  Hollister  for  aid  never  came  in  vain.  His  sympathy,  his 
counsel,  his  prayer,  was  ever  ready  for  the  tempted  and  the  afflicted.  All  his 


LIBRARY 

WWVERSJTY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBAN* 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  203 

life  has  been  devoted  to  Sunday-school  work,  sometimes  as  a  teacher,  or 
leader  of  young  men,  sometimes  as  superintendent,  but  always  there.  As 
superintendent  he  has  served  for  many  years  at  Tabernacle,  Clinton,  Plymouth 
and  Armour  Missions.  The  Union  Park  Church  grew  out  of  a  Sunday-school 
which  he  organized,  and  many  weak  and  struggling  churches  owe  their  present 
life  to  his  timely  work  and  generosity.  For  forty  years  he  has  been  a  member 
of  Plymouth  Church,  and  for  years  one  of  its  deacons.  His  positions  in 
societies  organized  for  Christian  work  are  varied  and  numerous.  He  has  been 
President  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.;  President  of  the  Chicago  Congregational  Club; 
President  of  the  Chicago  Bible  Society ;  Vice-President  of  the  American  Sun- 
day-school Union ;  member  of  the  Board  of  Guardians  of  the  Reform  School ; 
Director  of  the  Illinois  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  active  member  of  the 
Board  of  Commissions  of  New  West  Commission. 

In  his  home  life  Dr.  Hollister  has  always  been  most  happy;  surrounded  by 
friends,  endeared  to  a  vast  circle,  he  has  held  a  position  only  to  be  won  by 
intelligence,  culture  and  manly  integrity.  His  marriage  with  Miss  Jennette 
Windiate  fifty-five  years  ago  was  a  most  happy  one  and  their  home  in  all  the 
years  has  been  ideal.  In  1858  death  claimed  their  only  son,  and  in  1861,  the 
only  daughter.  Later  another  little  one  came  to  gladden  the  household,  who 
still  survives,  Isabelle,  wife  of  Dr.  Franklin  H.  Martin,  of  this  city. 

We  have  among  us  many  prosperous  and  successful  men,  but  none 
whose  lives  offer  to  young  men  a  more  fruitful  example  of  all  that  is  upright, 
noble  and  manly  in  life  than  Dr.  Hollister. 


CASEY  A.  WOOD,  M.  D. 

A  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body  is  the  normal,  but  not  the  most  usual,  con- 
dition of  the  members  of  the  human  family.  Disease  and  accidents  make  the 
physician  and  the  surgeon  the  conservators  of  our  health  and  happiness,  and 
therefore  place  them  among  the  most  necessary  and  useful  individuals  in  the 
progress  of  civilization.  Prominent  among  the  medical  men  of  Chicago  who 
have  realized  their  high  mission  and  successfully  striven  to  fulfil  it,  is  Dr. 
Casey  A.  Wood,  who  was  born  at  Wellington,  Ontario,  Canada,  November 
21,  1856,  son  of  Orrin  Cottier  and  Louisa  (Leggo)  Wood,  the  latter  the 
daughter  of  a  British  naval  officer. 

Orrin  C.  Wood  was  a  well  known  physician,  a  native  of  New  York 
State,  and  a  descendant  of  Epenetus  Wood,  who  was  born  in  Berkshire, 
England,  in  1692,  and  settled  near  Newburgh-on-Hudson,  in  1717.  S.  Casey 
Wood,  M.  P.  P.,  of  Toronto,  the  brother  of  Orrin  C,  was  formerly  Secre- 


204  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

tary  of  State,  and  for  many  years  Treasurer  of  the  Province  of  Ontario.  His 
son,  S.  Casey  Wood,  Jr.,  LL.  B.,  a  barrister,  also  living  in  Toronto,  is  fast 
winning  fame  in  his  profession,  and  doing  his  part  to  add  new  laurels  to  a  name 
already  well  known  in  Colonial  affairs,  as  well  as  illustrious  in  the  annals  of 
Revolutionary  fame.  All  three  bearing  this  name  were  named  after  a  friend 
of  Dr.  Wood's  grandfather,  a  member  of  the  same  family  to  which  belong 
Gen.  T.  L.  Casey,  the  architect  of  the  Congressional  Library,  a  member  of  the 
Order  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  numerous  other,  distinguished  citizens  bearing 
the  same  name  who  were  active  in  the  early  history  of  Rhode  Island. 

Dr.  Casey  A.  Wood  received  his  elementary  education  at  the  Ottawa 
(Canada)  Grammar  School,  and  later  attended  the  Ottawa  Collegiate  Insti- 
tute, from  which  he  was  graduated  as  prizeman  in  1872.  After  a  year's 
attendance  at  a  French  school  at  Grenville,  Quebec,  he  began  the  study  of 
medicine  with  his  father.  Subsequently  he  entered  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Bishop's  College,  Montreal,  and  also  received  instruction 
in  Clinical  Medicine  and  Surgery  at  the  Montreal  General  Hospital.  After 
completing  the  course  there,  he  passed  the  examinations  required  for  admis- 
sion to  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Ontario,  and  also  became  a 
licentiate  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Quebec.  For  several  years  Dr. 
Wood  practiced  general  medicine  and  surgery  in  Montreal,  where  he  was  one 
of  the  surgeons  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway  Company,  and,  most  of  the 
time,  held  the  Chairs  of  Chemistry  and  Pathology  in  the  University  of  Bish- 
op's College.  In  1877  he  retired  from  general  practice  to  make  a  specialty  of 
Ophthalmology  and  Otology.  Several  fnonths  were  spent  at  the  New  York 
Eye  and  Ear  Infirmary,  and  subsequently  two  years  in  Berlin,  Vienna,  Paris 
and  London.  During  this  time  he  acted  as  assistant  to  Dr.  Arthur  Hartmann, 
in  Berlin,  was  House  Surgeon  (pro  tempore)  in  the  Central  London  Ophthal- 
mic Hospital  in  Gray's  Inn  Road,  and  was  Clinical  Assistant  at  the  Golden 
Square  Throat  Hospital,  London.  The  greater  part  of  this  period  was  given 
to  study  at  the  Royal  London  Ophthalmic  Hospital  (Moorfields). 

Settling  in  Chicago,  Illinois,  in  1889,  Dr.  Wood  soon  acquired  a  large 
practice  and  filled  numerous  positions.  He  was  Ophthalmologist  for  two 
years  to  Cook  County  Hospital,  Ophthalmic  Surgeon  to  the  Alexian  Brothers 
Hospital  for,  four  years,  and  is  now  Attending  Oculist  to  St.  Luke's  Hospital, 
the  Passavant  Memorial  Hospital,  and  the  Hospital  of  the  Post-Graduate 
Medical  School.  He  is  also  Consulting  Ophthalmic  Surgeon  to  St.  Anthony's 
Hospital.  He  has  been  Professor  of  Ophthalmology  in  the  Chicago  Post- 
Graduate  School  since  1890,  and  Professor  of  Clinical  Ophthalmology  in  the 
University  of  Illinois  since  1898. 

In  1899  Dr.  Wood  was  elected  Chairman  of  the  Ophthalmological  Sec- 
tion of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  later  was  made  president  of 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  205 

the  Chicago  Ophthalmological  and  Otological  Society.  For  many  years  he 
was  editor-in-chief  of  the  Annals  of  Ophthalmology,  and  now  has  charge  of 
its  Department  of  Italian  Literature.  He  is  also  one  of  the  principal  editors  of 
the  Ophthalmic  Record.  Among  other  journals  with  which  he  has  been  con- 
nected editorially  are  the  Chicago  Medical  Standard,  The  Clinical  Review, 
and  the  Anales  de  Oftalmologia,  published  in  the  City  of  Mexico.  He  wrote 
"Wayside  Optics"  for  the  Popular  Science  Monthly;  a  series  of  illustrated 
papers  on  the  "Eyes  and  Eyesight  of  Printers"  for  the  Inland  Printer,  and 
has  contributed  extensively  to  both  the  general  and  special  medical  press.  He 
has  published  "Lessons  in  Diagnosis  and  Treatment  of  Eye  Diseases,"  "Pri- 
mary Sarcoma  of  the  Iris"  (with  Dr.  Brown  Pusey)  and  "The  Toxic 
Ambyopias,  their  Pathology  and  Treatment."  Dr.  Wood  has  translated 
numerous  ophthalmological  treatises  by  German,  French  and  Italian  writers, 
the  chief  work  of  this  kind  having  been  done  for  the  Annals  of  Ophthalmol- 
ogy and  the  Archives  of  Ophthalmology.  Perhaps  his  best  known  effort  in 
this  line  is  of  a  chapter  by  Parinaud  for  the  Norris  &  Oliver  System  of  Dis- 
eases of  the  Eye.  He  has  himself  written  chapters  for  the  Randall  and  de 
Schweintz  American  Text  Book  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear,  Hare's 
"Therapeutics,"  the  Wright-Posey  Text-book  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye,  Ear, 
Nose  and  Throat,  the  Hansell-Sweet  Text  Book  of  Diseases  of  the  Eye 
and  other  publications  of  a  similar  nature.  He  has  written, 
in  conjunction  with  his  associate,  Dr.  T.  A.  Woodruff,  a  book  entitled  "The 
Commoner  Diseases  of  the  Eye;  how  to  diagnose  and  treat  them." 

Dr.  Wood  is  a  member  of  the  International  Medical  Congress ;  the  Pan- 
American  Medical  Congress;  Die  Ophthalmologische  Gesellschaft;  the  Illi- 
nois State  and  Chicago  Medical  Societies ;  the  American  Medical  Association, 
and  the  Chicago  Neurological,  Medico-Legal  and  Ophthalmological  Societies. 
He  is  also  a  Fellow  of  the  American  and  Chicago  Academies  of  Medicine. 
Socially,  he  belongs  to  the  University,  Union  League  and  Calu- 
met Clubs  of  Chicago.  His  paternal  great-grandfather,  when  thir- 
teen years  of  age,  enlisted  as  a  drummer  boy  in  a  New  York 
regiment  of  the  Continental  army  and,  by  virtue  of  this  ser- 
vice, Dr.  Wood  is  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Rev- 
olution. For  many  years  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Twentieth  Century  and 
Caxton  Clubs.  He  has  always  evinced  considerable  interest  in  all  forms  of 
literary  effort,  but  especially  in  libraries,  being  a  constant  contributor  to  the 
Library  of  the  Chicago  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  to  other  col- 
lections of  books.  His  own  collection  of  works  relating  to  the  eye  and  its  dis- 
eases is  probably  the  most  extensive  private  library  of  the  kind  in  the  country. 

In  1902  Dr.  Wood  endowed  the  Wood  Gold  Medal,  presented  for  the 
previous  twenty  years  to  the  student  passing  the  best  final  examination  in  the 


206  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Bishop's  College,  the  medal  in  ques- 
tion being  given  in  memory  of  the  donor's  grandfather,  Thomas  Smith  Wood, 
Esquire. 

In  1903  Dr.  Wood's  Alma  Mater  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
D.  C.  L.,  for  distinguished  services  to  literature  and  to  the  University. 

In  October,  1886,  Dr.  Wood  was  married  to  Emma  Shearer,  daughter 
of  a  prominent  merchant  of  Montreal,  Canada. 

The  foregoing  brief  sketch  will  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  most  casual 
reader  that  Dr.  Wood,  while  largely  indebted  to  heredity  and  environment, 
owes  his  place  in  professional  and  social  circles  more  to  his  untiring  energy 
and  constant  industry  than  to  all  other  factors.  Although  born  of  a  stock  that 
has  made  its  impress  on  our  social  and  political  fabric  for  nearly  two  centuries, 
and  educated  in  the  best  schools  of  his  time,  the  Doctor  has  not  relied  upon 
social  standing  nor  on  college  diplomas  to  place  him  at  the  front.  On  the 
contrary,  he  has  improved  every  hour  of  his  time  to  make  him  what  he  is — 
a  good  citizen,  a  polished  gentleman,  a  ripe  scholar,  an  able  contributor  to 
medical  literature,  and  an  eminent  physician. 


SAMUEL  J.  JONES,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Dr.  Samuel  J.  Jones,  of  Chicago,  was  one  of  the  earlier  and  more  distin- 
guished physicians,  who  devoted  his  time  and  talents  to  the  practice  and  teach- 
ing of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology.  He  was  born  March  22,  1836, 
in  Bainbridge,  Pennsylvania.  Inheriting  an  active  temperament,  he  re- 
ceived a  good  collegiate  education  in  Dickinson  College,  Pennsylvania,  and 
then  entered  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  1860.  The  same  year  he  was  commissioned  as 
Assistant  Surgeon  in  the  United  States  Naval  Service,  and,  entering  directly 
upon  active  service,  continued  it  for  eight  years,  during  which  time  he  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  Surgeon.  In  1868  he  resigned  from  the  Medical 
Corps  of  the  Navy,  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  year  in  the  hospitals  of 
Europe,  and  on  his  return,  commenced  practice  in  Chicago  in  the  Departments 
of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology.  He  was  soon  assigned  to  the  Department 
of  Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear  in  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  and  there  commenced 
giving  clinical  instruction,  and  in  1870  he  was  elected  to  the  Professorship 
of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology  in  the  Northwestern  University  Medical 
School,  and  gave  clinical  instruction  regarding  Diseases  of  the  Eye  and  Ear 
in  the  Mercy  Hospital,  and  the  Southside  Free  Dispensary.  He  early  gained 
a  high  reputation  and  a  lucrative  practice  in  his  chosen  specialty,  and  re- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  207 

tained  both  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  was  an  active  and 
leading  member  of  the  regular  Medical  Societies,  local,  State  and  national, 
and  held  official  positions  in  most  of  them.  A  few  years  ago  he  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  efforts  to  lessen  street  noises,  and  to  secure  for  the 
people  the  use  of  pure  food.  Dr.  Jones  died  in  Chicago  October,  4,  1901.  He 
was  never  married. 


R.  G.  BOGUE,  M.  D. 

The  following  tribute  to  Dr.  Bogue  was  read  by  Dr.  John  Bartlett  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society,  succeeding  the  death  of  Dr.  Bogue. 

Mr.  President :  "The  occasion,  the  consideration  by  this  society  of  the 
death  of  one  of  its  members,  whose  friendship  has  been  alike  valuable  and 
pleasant  to  myself,  impels  me  to  speak  some  words  in  appreciation  of  our 
lamented  associate. 

"Dr.  R.  G.  Bogue  was,  fortunately  for  himself  and  for  those  about  him, 
remarkably  adapted  by  nature  for  success  in  his  chosen  calling.  Born  in  the 
woods  of  New  York,  and  brought  up  in  the  wilds  of  Michigan,  he  found  him- 
self, the  fostering  care  of  his  honored  parents  being  over,  with  nothing  to 
forward  his  fortunes  other  than  his  own  strength  and  intelligent  purpose. 
The  school  of  his  childhood  and  that  of  his  youth — the  farm — was  the  same 
that  has  turned  out  the  majority  of  those  able  men,  whose  deeds  have  excited 
the  admiration  of  their  fellows,  and  made  illustrious  the  nation's  annals. 
Farm  life,  with  the  culture  it  gives  to  the  intelligence,  to  the  habit  of  in- 
dustry, and  to  self-reliance,  served  to  foster  in  the  youth  those  qualities  which 
he  needed  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  And  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  his 
subsequent  years  of  army  life,  apart  from  the  great  professional  experience 
with  which  they  enriched  him,  had  much  to  do  with  the  formation  of  his 
strong  character. 

"Dr.  Bogue  was  an  honest,  straight-forward,  honorable  Christian.  He 
was  plain  and  entirely  unassuming  in  manner,  and  noticeably  quiet  and  re- 
tiring in  demeanor.  He  was  a  sturdy,  strong-minded  man,  very  positive  in 
his  judgments.  Mentally  he  was  observant  and  critical,  with  a  rare  power 
of  grasping  comprehensively,  and  analyzing  critically,  the  many  elements  of 
a  diagnostic  problem.  By  a  process,  rapid  almost  as  intuition,  all  existing 
probabilities  would  be  weighed,  the  least  weighty  eliminated,  and  the  most 
probable  only,  left  in  view.  Then  with  calm  judgment,  unbiased  by  such 
circumstances  as  the  prevalent  new  theory,  or  the  more  recent  authoritative 
dictum,  he  would  reach  a  conclusion  upon  which  he  stood  ready  to  assume 
all  responsibility,  and  to  act. 


208  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

"As  an  operator,  Dr.  Bogue  was  circumspect  and  cautious,  deliberate 
and  slow.  Joined  with  the  characteristics  here  implied  was  conspicuous  and 
unusual  tenacity  of  purpose,  a  persistence  of  effort  which  sometimes  during 
an  operation  aroused  the  concern  of  his  assistants.  He  ever  preserved,  what- 
ever the  exigency,  a  dauntless  courage.  When  there  was  before  the  surgeons 
of  the  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children  an  especially  grave,  obscure,  and 
generally  unpromising  case,  demanding  an  operation  that  required  unusual 
experience  and  skill,  and  the  question  arose  who  should  undertake  it,  we  had 
not  long  to  wait  for  Dr.  Bogue's  favorite  expression.  'I  will  attack  it.' 

"As  Dr.  Bogue's  judgment  was  superior,  so  were  his  results.  The  want 
of  all  brilliancy  in  his  operations  was  fully  compensated  for  by  the  excelled 
averages  of  successes  attained. 

"Though  best  known  as  a  surgeon,  Dr.  Bogue  was  a  general  practitioner. 
He  was  an  excellent  physician,  manifesting  in  practice  the  same  good  judg- 
ment ever  shown  by  him  in  surgery.  And  in  Obstetrics,  of  which  he  was 
little  fond,  and  of  which  he  sometimes,  in  moments  of  self-disparagement, 
declared  he  knew  nothing,  his  coolness,  skill  and  persistence  stood  him  in 
good  stead  in  many  a  capital  operation. 

"Dr.  Bogue  began  his  career  as  a  lecturer  with  great  misgiving.  In 
fact,  in  the  earlier  period  of  his  teaching,  to  deliver  a  lecture  was  an  ordeal 
from  which  he  shrank.  In  later  years  his  long  experience  begat  confidence. 
As  a  clinical  lecturer  he  was  excellent.  His  style  was  conversational,  devoid 
of  the  least  effort  at  display;  his  remarks  were  concise  and  directly  to  the 
point. 

"To  our  colleague  occurred  in  his  recent  years  one  of  the  saddest  lots 
which  can  befall  mankind.  In  the  midst  of  a  large  practice,  with  many  obli- 
gations resting  upon  him,  he  was  almost  suddenly  stricken  helpless.  In  a 
few  short  months,  he  became  totally  blind.  One  hears  of  persons  who  prefer 
to  die  in  harness.  Dr.  Bogue  was  one  of  these;  he  continued  to  practice 
weeks  after  his  sight  was  most  seriously  impaired.  His  last  operation  was 
for  strangulated  hernia.  During  it,  it  was  with  astonishment  and  concern 
that  we  saw  him  hesitate,  inquiring  of  his  assistants  whether  the  tissue  be- 
neath the  knife  was  the  sac  or  the  intestine.  Determining  this,  he  went  on 
with  the  operation,  bringing  it  to  a  successful  close.  A  few  weeks  later  he 
sent  for  a  colleague  in  a  case  of  labor,  coming  to  realize  that  he  could  not  de- 
termine the  condition  of  the  child,  or  the  state  of  the  perineum,  when  birth 
should  occur.  Shortly  after  this  event  his  labors,  independent  of  an  assistant, 
ceased. 

"The  dreadful  manner  in  which  blindness  had  wrecked  so  able  a  man, 
was  most  painfully  demonstrated  to  me  during  a  call  I  made  upon  him  soon 
after  his  loss  of  sight  was  complete.  I  found  him  seated  in  an  easy  chair  with 


'.'"     ". 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
UREAMA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  209 

a  towel  over  his  lap  on  which  rested  a  bowl  into  which  he  was  stoning  raisins. 
Recognizing  my  voice,  the  Doctor  genially  greeted  me,  saying  cheerfully, 
'You  see  I  am  making  myself  useful  in  the  culinary  department.'  The 
sight  of  this  learned,  forceful,  skillful  surgeon  reduced  by  the  accident  of 
disease  from  the  highest  functions  in  the  noblest  art  of  man,  to  the  lowly 
service  in  which  he  was  then  engaged,  was  to  me  beyond  expression  painful. 
But  this  picture  was  not  all  dark ;  it  was  radiant  with  the  charming  luminosity 
of  Christian  patience  and  content.  I  noticed  with  sadness  that  the  Doctor 
continued  his  humble  task  while  he  threw  light  upon  the  knotty  surgical 
problem  which  I  had  brought  for  his  solution. 

"Mr.  President:  In  the  past  few  years  the  members  of  our  society  have 
been  called  upon  with  a  mournful  frequency  to  part  with  associates  endeared 
to  us  by  reason  of  their  excellencies  as  men  and  physicians.  And  now  our 
hearts  are  again  saddened  by  the  departure  of  that  honest,  sturdy  soul,  that 
admirable  surgeon,  that  noble  friend,  R.  G.  Bogue.  So  long  as  our  memories 
last,  may  his  example  of  earnest  effort,  courageous  work  and  true  friendship 
never  fail  to  stimulate,  to  energize  and  to  fraternize  us.  Peace  to  his  Ashes." 


TRUMAN  W.  BROPHY,  M.  DM  D.  D.  S.,  LL.  D. 

Truman  W.  Brophy,  an  eminent  dentist  and  physician  of  Chicago,  was 
born  in  Gooding's  Grove,  Will  County,  Illinois,  April  12,  1848,  son  of  William 
and  Amelia  (Cleveland)  Brophy.  He  was  educated  in  the  common  schools 
of  his  native  town  and  at  the  academy  in  Elgin,  Illinois,  and  in  1867  entered 
upon  the  study  of  Dentistry  in  the  office  of  Dr.  J.  O.  Farnsworth,  of  Chicago. 
Later,  he  took  the  course  at  the  Pennsylvania  College  of  Dental  Surgery,  and 
graduated  in  1872,  his  time  between  sessions  being  spent  in  study  and  obser- 
vation in  Eastern  hospitals.  He  began  practice  in  Chicago,  and  from  the  start 
achieved  more  than  the  usual  degree  of  success,  his  acknowledged  skill  and 
thorough  training  soon  bringing  many  difficult  cases  under  his  care.  This 
fact  led  him  to  feel  the  need  of  more  extended  knowledge  of  Medicine  and 
Surgery,  and  in  1878  he  began  a  regular  course  of  study  at  Rush  Medical 
College,  where  he  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  M.  D.  in  1880.  His 
high  professional  standing,  his  acknowledged  skill,  and  the  fact  that  he  was 
the  President  of  his  class  during  his  undergraduate  course,  were  not  un- 
recognized by  the  Faculty,  and  immediately  upon  his  graduation  he  was 
unanimously  elected  to  fill  the  Chair  of  Dental  Pathology  and  Surgery  in 
Rush,  which  position  he  still  holds.  He  has  also  been  Clinical  Lecturer  at 
the  Central  Free  Dispensary,  and  in  1883  was  largely  instrumental  in  the 

14 


210  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

organization  of  the  Chicago  College  of  Dental  Surgery,  of  which  he  has  been 
Dean  since  its  organization,  also  acting  as  President.  His  success  in  the 
work  of  organizing  and  building  up  that  great  institution  of  dental  learning, 
the  largest  school  of  the  kind  in  the  world,  is  probably  his  greatest  achieve- 
ment. The  number  of  students  in  this  school  annually  is  nearly  six  hundred. 
In  his  successful  management  of  this  great  enterprise  he  has  shown  himself 
a  man  of  remarkable  organizing  ability  and  business  capacity,  and  this  talent 
has  been  exhibited  in  every  business  transaction  in  which  he  has  engaged. 

Dr.  Brophy  has  been  very  successful  as  a  teacher,  but  is  probably  best 
known,  both  in  Europe  and  in  America,  as  a  surgeon.  He  has  contributed 
to  Oral  and  General  Surgery  a  number  of  original  operations,  the  best  known 
of  which  is  the  so-called  "Brophy  operation"  for  the  radical  cure  of  cleft 
palate.  This  was  a  wide  departure  from  the  old  operations,  and  the  success 
which  has  attended  it  in  more  than  five  hundred  cases  which  have  fallen  into 
his  hands  has  challenged  the  admiration  of  the  world,  until  now  it  is  an  ac- 
cepted practice  among  all  advanced  surgeons,  and  has  wrought  a  revolution 
in  the  surgical  treatment  of  this  great  deformity.  In  recognition  of  his  pro- 
fessional eminence,  and  his  rare  surgical  skill,  Lake  Forest  University  in 
1894  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  LL.  D.,  while  he  has  been 
elected  Associate  and  Fellow  of  many  professional  and  scientific  bodies  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe. 

Dr.  Brophy  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  his  profession  in  the 
world.  He  took  the  initiatory  steps  and  successfully  organized  the  Section 
of  Dentistry  in  the  American  Medical  Association.  He  has  been  President  of 
the  State  Dental  Society,  the  Odontological  Society  of  Chicago,  the  Chicago 
Dental  Society,  the  National  Association  of  Dental  Colleges,  and  other 
bodies.  He  has  been  active  in  international  association  work,  and  has  been 
three  consecutive  years  elected  President  of  the  International  Commission  of 
Education  at  meetings  held  in  London,  Stockholm  and  Madrid.  Dr.  Brophy 
was  designated  by  the  United  States  as  one  of  its  representatives  to  the  Inter- 
national Dental  Congress  held  in  Paris  in  1900,  and  was  vice-president  for 
the  United  States  at  the  Fourteenth  International  Medical  Congress  held  in 
Madrid,  Spain,  in  April,  1903.  He  is  Chairman  of  the  Department  of  Educa- 
tion of  the  Fourth  International  Dental  Congress  to  be  held  in  St.  Louis  in 
1904.  He  enjoys  a  wide  social  popularity,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Union 
League,  the  Athletic  and  the  Illinois  Clubs. 

In  1873  he  was  married  to  Emma  J.  Mason,  daughter  of  Carlyle  Mason, 
of  Chicago,  Illinois.  They  have  one  son  and  three  daughters :  Jean  Mason 
Brophy  Barnes,  Florence  Brophy  Logan,  Truman  W.  Brophy,  Jr.,  and  Alberta 
L.  Brophy. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBAN/I 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  211 

The  Doctor  has  been  a  constant  writer  for  medical  and  dental  periodi- 
cals, and  the  following  are  among  his  contributions  to  professional  literature : 

"The  Treatment  of  Exposed  Pulps,"  Illinois  State  Dental  Society, 
Transactions,  1877.  "Trigeminal  Neuralgia,"  read  before  the  Wisconsin 
State  Dental  Society,  1879;  published  in  the  Monthly  Dental  Journal,  April, 
1880.  "Dental  Education,"  Illinois  State  Dental  Society,  1883.  "Dental 
Education,"  Illinois  State  Dental  Society,  Transactions,  1883.  "Relation  of 
Dentistry  to  Medicine,"  American  Medical  Association,  1884.  "Oral  Sur- 
gery," Illinois  State  Dental  Society,  1886.  "The  Matrix— A  New  Form," 
Transactions  of  the  New  York  Odontological  Society,  1886.  "Diagnosis  of 
Oral  Tumors,"  Illinois  State  Dental  Society,  Transactions,  1887.  "Lesions  of 
the  Dental  Branch  of  the  Fifth  Pair  of  Nerves,"  Illinois  State  Dental  Society, 
1889.  "Remarks  on  a  New  Operation  for  the  Closure  of  Cleft  Palate," 
American  Dental  Association,  1891.  "Affections  of  Salivary  Glands  and 
Tissues  in  close  proximity  to  them,"  Dental  Review,  December,  1891. 
"Surgical  Treatment  of  Palatal  Defects,"  read  before  the  Section  on  Dental 
and  Oral  Surgery,  Columbian  Dental  Congress,  Chicago,  August,  1893. 
"Relation  of  the  Profession  to  our  Dental  Colleges,"  Illinois  State  Dental 
Society,  1894.  "Exhibition  of  Patient  operated  on  for  Empyema  of  Antrum 
Frontal  Sines  and  Ethmoid  Cells,"  Peoria,  Illinois,  May  n  and  14,  1897, 
Illinois  State  Dental  Society.  "Early  Operations  for  Closure  of  Cleft 
Palate,"  Forty-seventh  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society, 
May  1 8  and  20,  1897.  "Conservatism  in  Oral  Surgery,"  Springfield,  Illinois, 
May  10,  1898,  Illinois  State  Dental  Society.  "Clinic  on  Facial  Neuralgia," 
Illinois  State  Dental  Society,  Chicago,  May  12,  1899.  "Surgical  Treatment 
of  Palatal  Defects,"  Paris,  France,  August  8,  1900.  "The  Dental  Curricu- 
lum," Stockholm,  Sweden,  August  17,  1902.  "The  Necessity  of  More  Thor- 
oughly Teaching  Dental  Pathology  and  Oral  Hygiene  in  Schools  of  Medicine," 
Madrid,  Spain,  April  7,  1903. 


4  «  » 


JOSEPH  BOLIVAR  DE  LEE,  M.  D. 

The  career  of  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Joseph  B.  DeLee  goes  far  to  strengthen 
the  popular  belief  that  this  is  the  day  of  young  men.  With  advantages  for 
the  highest  education  open  to  all,  the  spirit  of  emulation  and  the  ambition  to 
surpass  are  at  their  keenest.  The  professional  man  of  a  generation  or  so  back 
was  obliged  to  acquire  by  slow  experience  what  the  student  of  to-day  has 
presented  to  him  in  the  class-room.  While  this  change  has  lengthened  some- 
what, and  strengthened  immeasurably,  his  preparatory  work,  it  launches 
him  upon  his  individual  work  with  a  better  equipment  than  that  of  the  older 


2i2  A   GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

man  who  has  gained  the  same  point,  but  by  a  rougher  road.  Thus,  with  the 
wisdom  of  age,  but  the  freshness  of  youth,  the  young  physician  of  to-day 
starts  almost  where  his  predecessor  stopped,  and,  with  youthful  enthusiasm, 
makes  more  rapid  progress  than  the  other,  deemed  possible.  Another  ele- 
ment, too,  has  entered  in.  The  general  study  of  medicine,  from  being  a 
sufficient  preparation  for  a  life  work,  has  from  year  to  year  become  more  and 
more  regarded  as  only  a  basis  for  special  study.  The  numerous  lesser 
branches  of  the  principal  line  have  all  become  as  important  in  themselves,  and 
the  man  who  takes  up  one  line  and  follows  it  thoroughly  to  success  is  the  one 
who  accomplishes  most  for  his  science  and  his  generation.  Such  has  been 
the  case  with  Dr.  DeLee.  A  close  student,  a  careful  observer  and  investigator 
throughout  his  student  years  and  since,  he  entered  upon  his  independent 
career  well  prepared  to  cope  with  its  problems,  and  he  has  shown  how  wide 
the  path  of  a  specialist  may  be. 

Dr.  DeLee  was  born  October  28,  1869,  in  Cold  Spring,  New  York,  on 
the  Hudson  river,  opposite  West  Point,  and  was  the  ninth  child  of  his  mother. 
She  was  a  native  of  Germany,  born  near  Posen.  The  father  was  a  furrier 
by  trade,  and  in  time  engaged  in  general  merchandising.  The  Doctor's  grand- 
father was  a  surgeon  in  the  French  army,  and  settled  in  Poland  after  Na- 
poleon's retreat  from  Moscow.  Dr.  DeLee  commenced  attending  school  in 
his  native  town  when  four  years  old.  When  he  was  seven  years  old  the  family 
moved  to  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and  between  the  ages  of  eleven  and  thir- 
teen years  he  lived  with  a  rabbi  in  that  city,  graduating  with  high  honors  in 
Hebrew  Scripture.  Following  this  he  attended  public  school  in  New  York 
City,  graduating  at  the  age  of  fourteen  as  valedictorian  of  his  class,  and  the 
next  year  he  took  up  the  classical  course  in  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York.  For  the  three  succeeding  years  he  was  a  pupil  at  the  South  Division 
High  School,  Chicago,  and  the  remainder  of  his  student  life  was  devoted  to 
preparation  for  his  profession.  He  matriculated  at  the  Chicago  Medical  Col- 
lege, where  he  pursued  his  medical  studies  for  three  years,  during  the  two 
last  assisting  Dr.  W.  E.  Casselberry  in  the  Nose,  Throat  and  Chest  Depart- 
ment, of  which  he  took  complete  charge  during  Dr.  Casselberry's  three 
months'  stay  in  Europe.  On  his  graduation  from  that  institution,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  he  won  the  Davis  prize  for  the  best  graduating  thesis,  his 
subject  being  "The  Reaction  of  Degeneration." 

Having  won  second  place  in  the  competitive  examination,  Dr.  DeLee 
was  Interne  at  the  Cook  County  Hospital  in  1891-92,  and  in  1892-93  engaged 
in  the  general  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery,  locating  on  the  corner  of 
Twenty-second  street  and  Michigan  avenue.  However,  he  did  not  give  all 
his  time  to  private  practice  during  this  period,  as  he  held  various  positions 
in  the  distinctively  educational  line  of  his  profession,  being  Demonstrator  of 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  213 

Anatomy  at  the  Chicago  Medical  College;  Quiz  Master  in  Physiology  at  the 
Dental  School  of  the  Northwestern  University;  Nose,  Throat  and  Chest 
Clinician  at  the  South  Side  Dispensary  connected  with  the  Chicago  Medical 
College,  and  also  Clinician  at  the  Children's  Clinic  connected  with  that  in- 
stitution; Attending  Surgeon  at  the  Michael  Reese  Hospital  Dispensary;  and 
Lecturer  on  Physiology  at  the  Illinois  Training  School  for,  Nurses  and  the 
Baptist  Missionary  Training  School. 

In  July,  1893,  Dr.  DeLee  went  to  Europe,  where  he  remained  nearly  a 
year  and  a  half,  studying  in  Vienna,  Berlin  and  Paris.  He  devoted  his  time 
principally  to  general  diagnosis  and  Pathology,  later  to  Obstetrics,  Gyne- 
cology  and  the  Diseases  of  Children.  On  his  return  from  Europe,  Novem- 
ber 17,  1894,  he  resumed  the  practice  of  general  medicine  and  surgery,  and 
was  made  third  Demonstrator  of  Obstetrics  at  the  Northwestern  University 
Medical  School.  Dr.  DeLee  now  entered  earnestly  upon  the  work  in  which 
he  has  found  his  greatest  line  of  usefulness.  On  December  i,  1894,  he  made 
his  first  effort  to  found  a  public  lying-in  hospital  and  dispensary,  and  the 
failure  with  which  that  attempt  met  did  not  discourage  him,  for  the  following 
February  he  tried  again  and  got  started,  opening  a  little  dispensary  at  No. 
295  Maxwell  street.  The  same  month  (February,  1895)  Dr.  W.  W.  Jag- 
gard  was  taken  ill  and  had  to  go  to  Europe  for  rest  and  recreation,  and  Dr. 
DeLee  took  his  Senior  lectures  at  the  Northwestern  University  Medical 
School,  completing  the  course  that  year.  During  the  next  year  the  dispen- 
sary grew  so  that  he  gave  up  his  private  practice  for  ten  months  in  order  to 
properly  attend  to  it,  devoting  all  his  time  to  that  work.  In  the  fall  of  1895, 
Dr.  Jaggard  failing  to  do  his  work  in  the  Obstetric  Department,  Dr.  DeLee 
was  "invited  to  do  the  lecturing  in  Obstetrics  to  the  two  classes,  third  and 
fourth  year,  students,"  and  he  gave  his  first  lecture  twelve  hours  after  re- 
ceiving the  notice,  in  October,  1895. 

On  January  i,  1896,  the  Doctor  resumed  private  practice,  but  resolved 
to  be  an  exclusive  obstetrician,  and  during  that  year  he  acted  as  Attending 
Obstetrician  to  the  Mercy  Hospital,  and  lectured  at  the  Illinois  Training 
School  for  Nurses,  besides  finishing  Dr.  Jaggard's  course  on  Obstetrics,  pre- 
viously mentioned.  In  October,  1896,  he  was  made  Senior  Lecturer  on 
Obstetrics  at  the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School,  and  the  following 
year  Dr.  DeLee  was  assigned  all  the  work  in  the  Obstetric  Department  at  that 
institution,  and  honored  with  the  title  of  Lecturer.  In  1898  he  was  made 
Professor  of  Obstetrics  at  the  Northwestern  University  Medical  School,  a 
position  which  he  has  ever  since  honored,  by  his  thoroughness  doing  his  full 
share  toward  maintaining  the  high  standards  of  that  institution.  The  same 
year  Dr.  DeLee  was  made  Attending  Obstetrician  to  Wesley  Hospital  and 
lectured  on  Obstetrics  to  the  Nurses  at  the  Mercy  Hospital.  In  1899  he  was 


214  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

made  Obstetrician-in-Chief  to  the  Chicago  Lying-in  Hospital,  which  he  had 
founded  that  year,  and  was  also  made  Obstetrician  to  Provident  Hospital. 
In  1902  he  was  made  Attending  Obstetrician  to  the  Cook  County  Hospital. 

In  1895  Dr.  DeLee  became  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society, 
and  of  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society.  At  the  age  of  thirty-two  he  was 
honored  with  the  secretaryship  of  the  latter,  and  the  following  year  was  made 
a  Councilor  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society;  in  1899  he  became  a  Fellow  of 
the  Chicago  Gynecological  Society,  of  which  he  was  also  made  secretary  at 
the  age  of  thirty-two. 

Dr.  DeLee  has  contributed  to  the  literature  of  his  profession  over  thirty 
articles  on  Obstetrics  and  allied  subjects;  has  written  extensive  notes  for  use 
as  text-books  by  Senior  and  Junior  students  at  the  Northwestern  University 
Medical  School;  and  a  complete  set  of  notes  on  Obstetrics  for  nurses,  which 
latter  has  been  elaborated  into  a  book  of  460  pages  and  165  illustrations.  He 
has  the  reputation  of  being  a  most  thorough  diagnostician,  with  a  mental  and 
physical  equipment  in  every  way  equal  to  the  work  he  has  undertaken.  This 
mere  recital  of  his  accomplishments  and  the  various  phases  his  work  has  taken 
is  sufficient,  without  elaboration,  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  vast  amount 
of  work  he  has  gone  over  during  the  comparatively  brief  period  of  his  inde- 
pendent professional  career.  We  give  the  comments  of  two  eminent  brother 
practitioners.  Dr.  Ridlon  expresses  himself  thus : 

"I  have  known  Dr.  Joseph  B.  DeLee  since  he  was  a  student  in  North- 
western University  Medical  School,  where  he  graduated  in  1891.  I  have 
watched  his  progress,  step  by  step,  from  the  student  benches  in  the  medical 
school  to  the  first  place  as  a  teacher  of  Obstetrics  in  the  city  of  Chicago. 
The  progression  of  no  other  man  I  have  ever  known  holds  so  valuable  a 
lesson  for  the  young  doctor  as  that  of  Dr.  DeLee.  His  professional  life  shows 
that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  with  little  social  influence,  and  little  or  no  pro- 
fessional assistance,  to  gain  the  highest  place  in  an  incredibly  short  time,  if 
only  he  is  willing  to  work.  Dr.  DeLee  is  a  teacher,  but  he  holds  his  high 
place  because  he  is  a  man  who  does  things.  In  a  few  years  he  has  built  -up 
the  largest  obstetric  clinic  in  Chicago,  and,  having  the  material  for  teaching, 
he  can  and  does  command  any  position  and  any  favors  within  the  gift  of  any 
medical  school  in  the  city.  He  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  successful  young 
American,  who  keeps  busy  minding  his  own  affairs,  who  'just  saws  wood,' 
who  'gets  there.'  " 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  writes  as  follows:  "With  a  good  general  educa- 
tion Dr.  DeLee  pursued  his  medical  studies  in  the  Northwestern  University 
Medical  School,  from  which  he  graduated  with  high  standing  in  1891.  He 
was  immediately  appointed  Demonstrator  and  Lecturer  on  Operative  Obstet- 
rics in  his  Alma  Mater.  The  next  year  he  was  elected  full  Professor  of 


E»s  K  Hcmr.  T.-^o«.  JR.   CHI 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  215 

Obstetrics  in  the  college,  and  became  Attending  Obstetrician  to  Mercy  Hospi- 
tal. He  also  the  same  year  became  Obstetrician  in  Chief  to  the  Chicago 
Lying-in  Hospital  and  Dispensary,  an  institution  largely  resulting  from  his 
own  untiring  energy  and  perseverance.  He  has  since  been  appointed  Obstet- 
rician to  the  Wesley  Hospital  and  some  other  institutions.  Probably  no  one 
else  in  this  city  has  done  so  much  to  promote  the  cause  of  the  clinical  teach- 
ing of  Obstetrics,  and  at  the  same  time  to  furnish  the  best  attendance  possi- 
ble for  the  poor.  And  I  have  found  the  names  of  very  few  men  on  the  pages 
of  medical  history  who  have  done  as  much  good  work  during  the  first  ten 
years  of  their  professional  lives  as  has  been  done  by  Professor  DeLee  here 
in  Chicago,  in  his  chosen  field." 


ALFRED  CLEVELAND  COTTON,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

If  so  forceful  a  character  as  Dr.  Cotton  ever  required  an  incentive  in  life, 
other  than  his  own  inborn  determination  to  make  an  honorable  name  in  the 
professional  world,  he  would  have  found  it  in  the  genealogical  annals  of  his 
distinguished  family.  It  may  be  said  without  exaggeration  that  the  Cottons 
and  the  Mathers  are  a  part  of  the  very  foundation  of  New  England  and  of  the 
United  States.  Moreover,  their  ruggedness  of  character  was  permeated  and 
refined  by  the  intellectual  culture  of  the  universities.  By  education  and  by 
instinct  the  members  of  the  Cotton  family  were  drawn  into  the  channels  of 
professional  life,  and  for  many  generations,  whether  as  clergymen,  teachers 
or  physicians,  have  stood  in  the  van  as  leaders  in  the  provinces  of  morals,  in- 
tellect, science  and  practical  works. 

Rev.  John  Cotton,  founder  of  the  American  branch  of  the  family,  was 
born  in  Derby,  England,  on  the  fifteenth  of  December,  1585,  and  was  a  Fellow 
of  Cambridge  University  and  a  Puritan  clergyman  previous  to  his  removal 
from  the  old  Boston  to  the  new  in  1633.  Previous  to  landing  at  the  infant 
Hub,  however,  his  wife  gave  birth  to  a  son,  who  in  commemoration  of  the 
fact  was  named  Seaborn.  In  the  order  of  nature  Seaborn  grew  to  manhood, 
married,  and  his  wife  had  a  daughter,  Sarah,  who,  in  turn  was  espoused  by 
the  famous  Increase  Mather,  their  son  in  turn  being  Cotton  Mather,  of  still 
greater,  fame. 

The  branch  of  the  Cotton  family  to  which  Dr.  Cotton  is  directly  related 
has,  as  its  buds,  John,  the  son  of  Seaborn,  a  citizen  of  Hampton,  New  Hamp- 
shire; Thomas  and  Melvin,  representing  the  succeeding  generations,  the  latter 
being  a  Revolutionary  patriot,  and  all  diversifying  successful  professional 
work  with  the  healthful  and  necessary  labors  of  the  agriculturist. 

Gradually  spreading  from  the  Hub,  members  of  the  family  located  in  the 


216  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

colonies  and  commonwealths  north  of  the  Old  Bay  State.  Porter,  the  son 
of  Melvin  Cotton,  a  literary  character  and  a  teacher  of  high  standing,  mar- 
ried Miss  Elvira  Cleveland,  of  Vermont.  Migrating  to  the  South,  although 
a  Congregationalist  and  an  anti-slavery  advocate  of  radical  views,  his  abilities 
were  promptly  recognized,  and  he  served  for  some  time  in  the  Faculty  of 
Washington  College,  an  institution  of  high  standing  near  Natchez,  Missis- 
sippi. Notwithstanding  that  he  might  have  made  a  name  for  himself  as  an 
educator  in  the  South,  his  social  and  political  beliefs  were  so  antagonistic  to 
those  prevailing  in  that  section  of  the  country  that  he  returned  to  Vermont, 
and  after  suffering  some  business  reverses  decided  to  cast  his  fortunes  with 
those  of  the  great  new  West.  In  1840,  therefore,  he  located  in  Griggsville, 
Pike  county,  Illinois,  and,  like  the  practical  man  that  he  was,  became  a  mill 
owner,  a  grain  dealer  and  a  general  merchant,  despite  his  thorough  educa- 
tion and  his  training  as  a  pedagogue.  Cultured,  modest,  industrious,  upright, 
original,  and  a  power,  in  the  young  community,  he  lived  there  for  forty 
years,  dying  in  the  ripeness  of  old  age,  universally  respected  and  loved. 

Of  the  six  children  born  to  Porter  Cotton,  Dr.  Alfred  Cleveland  Cotton 
is  the  youngest,  the  date  of  his  birth  being  May  18,  1847.  After  receiving  a 
primary  and  grammar  school  education,  in  accordance  with  his  father's 
wishes,  Alfred  was  placed  under  the  intellectual  care  of  Rev.  W.  H.  Whipple, 
a  Congregational  clergyman,  the  design  being  to  prepare  the  boy  for  college. 
At  sixteen  years  of  age,  however,  his  studies  were  interrupted  by  the  Civil 
war.  Enlisting  with  the  Union  army  as  a  drummer,  he  experienced  sixteen 
months  of  service,  half  of  which  period  he  spent  in  Southern  prisons,  having 
received  wounds  from  which  he  did  not  recover  for  some  time  after  being 
mustered  out  of  the  service.  As  soon  as  his  health  would  permit,  he  resumed 
his  studies  at  the  Illinois  State  Normal  University,  at  Bloomington,  being 
soon  elected  president  of  the  Philadelphian  Literary  Society.  Graduating 
from  that  institution  in  1869,  for  the  succeeding  seven  years  Dr.  Cotton  served 
as  a  principal  of  grammar  and  high  schools  and  superintendent  of  city  schools. 
During  this  period  traits  of  character,  which  were  no  doubt  partially  in- 
herited, were  so  developed  by  experience  and  training  as  to  mark  him  as 
among  the  foremost  educators  of  the  State,  he  being  especially  prominent, 
perhaps,  as  a  teacher  of  Latin  and  the  natural  sciences,  and  most  successful 
as  an  organizer  of  graded  schools.  It  was  during  the  period  above  named 
(in  1873)  that  Dr.  Cotton  also  served  as  Deputy  County  Superintendent  of 
Schools  for  Iroquois  County. 

Several  years  previous  to  this  time  he  had  commenced  his  medical 
studies  with  Dr.  J.  R.  Stoner,  of  Griggsville,  and  in  1876  he  abandoned  his 
career  of  non-professional  teaching  forever.  During  the  autumn  of  that 
year,  well  grounded  in  the  preparatory  branches  for  a  medical  course,  he 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  217 

entered  Rush  Medical  College,  graduating  in  1878  as  valedictorian  and  presi- 
dent of  his  class.  He  was  at  once  invited  to  accept  a  lectureship  as  a  member, 
of  the  Spring  Faculty.  This  he  did,  but  decided  to  locate  for  practice  at 
Turner,  Du  Page  county,  Illinois.  Here  his  abilities,  both  as  an  executive 
and  professional  man,  promptly  earned  for  him  not  only  a  large  practice,  but 
such  public  positions  as  Coroner  of  the  county  in  1878  and  1881,  and  Health 
Officer  of  the  village  in  1880.  As  the  smallpox  epidemic  invaded  that  part 
of  the  State  during  his  incumbency  of  the  last  named  position  the  office  proved 
far.  from  being  a  sinecure.  As  Turner  is  quite  an  important  railway  center. 
Dr.  Cotton's  practice  included  much  railway  surgery,  he  receiving  the  ap- 
pointment of  an  Assistant  Surgeon  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  railway. 

The  continuous  encouragement  which  he  received  from  his  Alma  Mater, 
added  to  the  promptings  of  his  own  ambition  for  a  broader  professional  field, 
attracted  him  irresistibly  to  Chicago.  In  1880  he  had  accepted  the  position  of 
Lecturer  on  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  at  Rush  Medical  College  and 
although  still  a  resident  of  Turner  opened  an  office  in  this  city.  It  was 
during  May,  1882,  that  he  established  himself  in  Chicago,  on  the  west  side, 
as  a  resident  physician,  where  he  soon  became  widely  known,  especially  as  an 
expert  in  Diseases  of  Children.  Dr.  Cotton  had  previously  served  as  assistant 
in  the  newly  established  clinical  department  on  Diseases  of  Children,  con- 
nected with  Rush  Medical  College,  and  during  1883-84,  that  he  might 
further  perfect  himself  in  this  specialty,  he  spent  a  year  in  the  leading  medical 
institutions  of  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  particularly  in  the 
post-graduate  and  polyclinic  schools  of  the  metropolis.  Returning  to  Chicago 
in  the  fall  of  1884,  he  energetically  pursued  his  former  lines  of  work,  being 
splendidly  equipped  to  accept  the  further  honors  which  came  to  him.  In 
1886  he  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  from  Illinois  College,  in  1888 
he  was  made  Adjunct  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  in 
Rush  College,  and  in  1892,  on  the  decease  of  Prof.  Knox,  he  was  appointed 
to  succeed  him  in  the  clinical  Chair  of  Pediatrics. 

Dr.  Cotton's  eminent  success,  both  as  a  theoretical  and  clinical  instructor 
in  Diseases  of  Children,  led  Rush  Medical  College  to  create  for  him  a  full 
professorship  of  that  department,  which  he  still  occupies  and  honors.  His 
prominence  in  this  specialty  has  also  induced  many  public  institutions  to 
solicit  his  services.  Since  1882  he  has  been  connected  with  the  Children's 
Department  of  the  Central  Free  Dispensary,  either  as  Attending  or  Con- 
sulting Physician,  and  for  many  years  he  has  served  the  Presbyterian  Hospi- 
tal in  a  like  capacity,  as  well  as  holding  the  positions  of  Obstetrician  to  that 
institution  and  Lecturer  to  the  Illinois  Training  School  for  Nurses.  Besides 
the  many  duties  connected  with  his  extensive  practice  and  the  public  institu- 
tions named  above,  Dr.  Cotton  has  assumed  those  naturally  associated  with 
his  sendee  of  several  years  on  the  medical  staff  of  Cook  County  Hospital  and 


218  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

four  years  as  City  Physician  of  Chicago.  His  term  in  the  latter  capacity 
covered  a  period  of  1891-93,  and  again  from  June,  1895,  to  1897.  By  virtue 
of  his  position  he  was  also  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Health,  had 
medical  supervision  of  the  Police  Department  and  House  of  Correction,  and 
was  in  charge  of  the  Chicago  Isolation  Hospital  and  the  infectious  disease 
ward  of  the  Cook  County  Hospital.  During  President  Harrison's  term  of 
office  he  served  as  Examining  Surgeon  on  the  United  States  Pension  Board, 
and  for  years  was  elected  Surgeon  for  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 
and  the  Veteran  Union  League. 

Dr.  Cotton  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Medical  and  Pathological  So- 
cieties, the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society,  the  American  Pediatric  Society, 
the  American  Medical  Examiners  Association  and  the  American  Medical  As- 
sociation, before  which  he  has  read  papers  that  have  been  widely  circulated. 
In  1894,  at  the  national  meeting  of  the  latter  body  held  in  San  Francisco,  he 
was  chosen  temporary  chairman  of  the  Section  on  Diseases  of  Children,  and 
at  the  Baltimore  Congress,  which  assembled  in  June,  1895,  he  was  selected  as 
chairman  of  that  Section.  It  may  be  added  that  Dr.  Cotton's  reputation, 
made  as  Professor  of  Diseases  of  Children  to  Rush  Medical  College,  has 
firmly  established  his  position  as  one  of  the  leading  American  authorities  on 
Pediatrics.  He  is  one  of  the  few  Americans  who  have  been  honored  with 
election  to  membership  of  the  Societe  Francaise  d'  Hygiene,  of  Paris,  France. 

He  has  served  as  President  of  the  Chicago  Pediatric  Society;  the  Chi- 
cago Medical  Examiners  Association ;  the  Chicago  Physician's  Club ;  the  Chi- 
cago Alumni  Chapter,  Phi  Rho  Sigma,  and  of  the  Grand  Chapter  of  the- 
same  fraternity.  For  nearly  twenty  years  he  has  held  the  position  of  Medi- 
cal Referee  for  Chicago  and  vicinity  with  the  Prudential  Life  Insurance 
Company,  of  Newark,  New  Jersey.  Dr.  Cotton  is  a  Mason  of  high  rank, 
and  has  held  the  office  of  Post  Commander  in  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic. 

In  spite  of  his  busy  professional  life  Dr.  Cotton  has  found  time  for  for- 
eign travel  and  study.  His  frequent  contributions  to  medical  literature, 
especially  on  pediatric  subjects,  have  received  international  recognition.  He 
was  twice  elected  as  delegate  to  the  International  Medical  Congress,  to  the  one 
in  Moscow  in  1897,  and  again  to  Madrid  in  1903. 

Dr.  Cotton  is  the  author  of  a  text-book  on  "Anatomy,  Physiology  and 
Hygiene  of  Infancy  and  Childhood,"  also  of  a  course  of  instruction  on  the 
"Care  of  Children,"  issued  by  the  American  School  of  Household  Economics, 
in  which  he  is  supervisor  of  instruction  on  that  subject.  He  is  now  at  work 
upon  a  treatise  on  Diseases  of  Children  under  contract  with  J.  Lippincott  & 
Co.,  of  Philadelphia. 

The  Doctor's  family  includes  his  wife,  formerly  Miss  Nettie  McDonald, 
a  daughter,  Mildred  Cleveland  Cotton,  and  a  son,  John  Rowell  Cotton. 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  219 

JAMES  STEWART  JEWELL,  M.  D. 

Dr.  James  Stewart  Jewell,  late  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Galena,  Illinois, 
September  8,  1837.  After  receiving  his  primary  education  in  the  schools 
of  his  native  town,  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  commenced  the  study  cf 
medicine  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  S.  M.  Mitchell,  of  Williamson  county, 
Illinois,  in  1855.  He  attended  a  course  of  medical  college  instruction  in 
1858-59  at  Rush  Medical  College,  and  the  following  year  he  attended  the 
Medical  Department  of  Lind  University,  and  graduated  at  the  head  of  the 
first  graduating  class  of  that  institution,  which  is  now  the  Northwestern 
University  Medical  School.  He  returned  to  Williamson  county  and  engaged 
in  general  practice  in  1860,  at  a  time  when  epidemic  erysipelas  and  cerebro- 
spinal  meningitis  were  quite  prevalent  in  many  parts  of  the  State.  Among 
his  first  contributions  to  medical  literature  was  an  interesting  history  of  the 
prevalence  and  character  of  those  diseases  in  Williamson  and  adjoining  coun- 
ties. During  his  last  term  as  student  in  the  medical  school  he  distinguished 
himself  as  an  expert  demonstrator  of  anatomy,  and  in  1862  he  accepted  a  call 
to  the  Professorship  of  Anatomy  in  his  Alma  Mater,  and  changed  his  resi- 
dence to  Chicago.  During  the  succeeding  seven  years  he  filled  that  position 
with  a  zeal  and  ability  rarely  equalled;  and  at  the  same  time  acquired  an 
extensive  general  practice;  made  frequent  contributions  to  medical  literature 
and  to  medical  and  scientific  societies,  and,  withal,  was  an  enthusiastic  teacher 
of  Bible  history  in  the  Sabbath  schools.  By  such  a  variety  of  important  and 
enthusiastic  work  his  health  began  to  show  signs  of  failure,  and  in  1869  he 
resigned  his  professorship  and  decided  to  spend  one  or  two  years  in  Palestine, 
both  for  improvement  in  a  knowledge  of  Bible  history  and  physical  health. 

He  spent  more  than  one  year  in  traveling  in  Palestine  and  Egypt,  and 
on  returning  visited  the  more  important  medical  institutions  in  Europe, 
reaching  Chicago  in  1871.  On  resuming  the  practice  of  his  profession,  he 
decided  to  limit  his  attention  chiefly  to  Nervous  and  Mental  Diseases,  and 
the  following  year  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Nervous  and  Mental 
Diseases  in  Chicago  Medical  College,  then  Medical  Department  of  North- 
western University.  In  discharging  the  duties  of  that  Chair  he  displayed  the 
same  enthusiasm  and  gained  the  same  popularity  that  had  previously  accom- 
panied his  work  in  the  Chair  of  Anatomy,  in  the  same  school.  He  took  a 
leading  part  in  organizing  the  American  Neurological  Society  and  was  its 
President  three  years.  In  1874  he  commenced  editing  and  publishing  the 
Journal  of  Nervous  and  Mental  Diseases,  a  large  sized  quarterly  on  which  he 
bestowed  a  great  amount  of  mental  labor,  and  to  which  he  soon  gave  a  very 
high  reputation.  He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Chicago  and  Illinois  State 
Medical  Societies,  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  Chicago  Acad- 


220  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

emy  of  Sciences,  and  of  the  Wisconsin  Academy  of  Sciences.  He  was  award- 
ed the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  by  the  Northwestern  University  in 
1869.  He  was  familiar  with  several  modern  languages,  and  accumulated  one 
of  the  most  valuable  private  medical  libraries  in  the  city.  In  addition  to  his 
college  and  editorial  work  he  carried  on  an  extensive  practice  in  his  chosen  de- 
partment, and  was  ever  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  in  the  Sabbath  schools 
and  other  moral  interests  of  society.  A  short  time  after  his  return  from  his 
travels  abroad  and  resumption  of  professional  work,  he  began  to  have  occa- 
sional attacks  threatening  pulmonary  tuberculosis.  These  so  increased,  that 
in  1883  he  deemed  it  advisable  to  transfer  his  interests  in  the  Journal  and  re- 
sign his  professorship  in  the  college,  and  endeavor  to  seek  the  benefit  of  a 
milder  climate.  But  after  suffering  much  from  both  gastric  and  pulmonary 
disorders,  he  died  at  his  home  in  Chicago,  April  18,  1887,  aged  a  little  less 
than  fifty  years. 

As  a  teacher  and  writer  he  was  remarkable  for  his  readiness  in  the  use 
of  language,  for  he  was  always  ready  in  speech,  and  equally  at  ease  in  his 
library,  his  lecture  room,  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  in  the  halls  of  science,  in 
the  religious  assembly,  and  with  his  loved  ones  at  his  own  fireside.  During 
the  twenty-seven  years  of  his  professional  life,  he  accomplished  an  amount  of 
valuable  professional,  scientific  and  religious  work  rarely  equaled  by  others 
in  the  same  number  of  years. 

Dr.  Jewell  was  married  in  1864  to  Mary  C.  Kennedy,  of  Nashville, 
Illinois,  who  died  in  1883.  They  had  seven  children,  only  four  of  whom  sur- 
vived their  parents,  i.  e.,  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

[N.  S.  DAVIS,  M.  D.,  SR.] 


MAURICE  L.  GOODKIND,  M.  D. 

Born  at  an  auspicious  period  in  the  history  of  the  world,  when  youth 
is  no  barrier  to  high  honor  bravely  won,  Dr.  Maurice  L.  Goodkind,  of 
Chicago,  has  in  a  few  years  attained  an  eminence  in  the  medical  profession 
equalled  by  comparatively  few  practitioners.  A  native  of  Chicago,  Dr.  Good- 
kind  obtained  his  preliminary  literary  training  in  the  schools  of  that  city. 
His  medical  education  he  received  in  Williams  College,  and  in  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York  City,  completing  his  studies  in  the 
latter  institution  in  1889.  The  following  year  found  him  active  in  the  work 
of  his  calling  in  Michael  Reese  Hospital,  Chicago,  where  he  remained  until 
1891.  That  year  he  went  to  Vienna,  Austria,  and  there,  in  close  study  under 
the  noted  instructors  in  the  University,  he  delved  deeper  into  the  theory  and 
practice  of  medicine  and  surgery  until  1893.  During  the  interval  between 


LIBRARY 
OF 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  221 

his  graduation  and  his  trip  abroad,  Dr.  Goodkind  was  closely  associated 
with  some  of  the  brightest  minds  in  the  profession.  He  served  as  assistant 
to  Professor  Delafield  in  Internal  Medicine,  and  also  to  Profs.  M.  Allen 
Starr  and  B.  Sachs  in  Neurology.  After  his  return  to  America,  in  1893,  Dr. 
Goodkind  was  appointed  Medical  Inspector  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Health, 
serving  during  the  smallpox  epidemic.  In  1894-95  he  was  secretary  of  the 
Civil  Service  Commission  Medical  Board.  At  the  present  time  he  is  Pro- 
fessor of  General  Diagnosis  at  the  Chicago  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, attending  physician  to  Michael  Reese  Hospital,  attending  physician 
to  Cook  County  Hospital,  consulting  physician  to  the  Home  for  Aged  Epis- 
copalians and  also  to  the  Home  for  Aged  Jews. 

The  Doctor  is  a  member  of  the  Chicago  Medical  Society;  the  Medico- 
Legal  Society;  the  Neurological  Society;  and  is  Treasurer  of  the  Society  of 
Internal  Medicine.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Physicians'  and  the  Quad- 
rangle Clubs.  Among  the  medical  papers  of  which  he  is  the  author  may  be 
mentioned  the  following :  "Guide  to  Insurance  Examiners" ;  "Headaches," 
in  M.  Allen  Starr's  book  on  Nervous  Diseases ;  "Closure  of  the  Great  Vessels 
of  the  Neck";  and  articles  on  Leukaemia,  multiple  sclerosis,  and  blood 
diseases. 


CHARLES  THEODORE   PARKES,  M.  D. 

More  than  a  decade  has  passed  since  his  family,  his  city  and  the  medi- 
cal profession  throughout  the  entire  land  were  called  upon  to  unite  in  deplor- 
ing the  demise  of  this  eminent  surgeon,  whose  distinguished  career  so 
pointedly  and  vividly  illustrated  the  present  era  of  scientific  progress ;  yet  his 
loss  is  still  felt,  his  memory  is  still  green,  and  the  fruits  of  his  years  of 
patient  investigation  and  of  his  ripe  scholarship  still  remain  with  us  as  a 
precious,  an  imperishable,  legacy. 

Dr.  Parkes  was  born  at  Troy,  New  York,  August  19,  1842.  He  was 
the  youngest  of  a  family  of  ten  children  born  to  Joseph  Parkes,  who  emi- 
grated to  America  from  England.  The  elder  Parkes  was  a  man  gifted  with 
a  high  order  of  intelligence  and  endowed  with  rare  enterprise  and  energy. 
By  occupation  he  was  an  iron  manufacturer.  While  Charles  was  a  mere 
child  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Pennsylvania,  going  thence  to  St.  Louis, 
and  finally  taking  up  his  residence  in  Chicago,  in  1860.  The  future  surgeon 
and  scientist  was  then  a  youth  of  eighteen  years.  His  father  had  met  with 
business  reverses,  and  he  felt  that  it  now  devolved  upon  him  to  become  the 
architect  of  his  own  fortune.  But  he  was  strong  in  both  mind  and  body,  self- 
reliant,  courageous  and  ambitious,  and  he  looked  forward  to  the  future  with- 


222  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

out  fear.  Eagerly  desirous  of  securing  a  higher  education,  he  matriculated 
at  the  University  of  Michigan,  and  it  was  during  his  second  year  as  a  student 
there  that  he  first  felt  a  vocation  to  a  physician's  life.  Accordingly,  he  at 
once  began  so  to  select  his  studies  and  shape  his  college  course  as  best  to 
qualify  him  for  his  chosen  life  work.  Before  two  years  of  this  peaceful 
academic  life  had  passed,  however,  the  reverberation  of  the  guns  in  Charles- 
ton harbor  had  startled  and  aroused  the  civilized  world.  The  deep  indigna- 
tion and  ardent  patriotism  of  the  loyal  North  found  voice  in  countless  ways, 
but  the  final  answer  was  stern.  The  perpetuity  of  democratic  institutions, 
the  honor  of  the  flag,  even  the  very  existence  of  the  Nation,  were  in  peril; 
and  from  hilltop  and  valley,  from  workshop  and  farm,  -from  the  counting- 
house  and  the  quiet  cloistered  halls  of  seats  of  learning,  poured  forth  the  in- 
vincible host  which  was  to  avenge  a  wrong  and  maintain  the  right.  Ann 
Arbor's  students  were  not  behind  those  of  other  universities  in  making  quick 
response  to  the  call  to  arms,  and  young  Parkes  was  among  the  first  to  volun- 
teer, content  to  enter  his  name  as  a  private  on  the  roll  of  his  country's  de- 
fenders, joining  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  Illinois  Infan- 
try. He  remained  in  the  service  for  a  little  over  three  years,  enduring  the 
fatigue  of  the  forced  march  and  the  ordeal  of  battle  with  unflinching  devotion. 
Of  the  story  of  his  military  career  Dr.  Parkes's  innate  modesty  made  him 
loath  to  speak.  He  rarely  alluded  to  the  circumstance  that  he  was  given 
charge  of  the  fortification  of  the  famous  "Island  No.  10"  in  the  Mississippi 
and  supervised  the  engineering  work  in  connection  therewith,  nor  was  he  fond 
of  exhibiting  the  shoulder  straps  and  sword  which  he  wore  home  as  captain 
in  the  Sixty-ninth  United  States  Colored  Troops.  His  comrades,  nevertheless, 
tell  that  by  virtue  of  his  magnificent  physique  he  was  regarded  as  the  strongest 
man  in  the  regiment,  and  that  he  was  always  noted  for  his  reckless  courage. 
At  the  close  of  the  war  he  declined  the  tender  of  a  colonel's  commission. 

On  returning  to  Chicago  he  at  once  began  his  professional  studies,  under 
the  preceptorship  of  Dr.  Rea,  then  filling  the  Chair  of  Anatomy  in  Rush  Medi- 
cal College.  In  1868  he  graduated  from  that  institution,  and  at  once  was 
made  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy.  During  his  college  course  he  displayed  a 
wonderful  mental  activity,  maintaining  his  stand  at  the  head  of  his  class. 
This  engagement,  however,  did  not  prevent  his  commencing  practice  in  his 
own  office  the  same  year.  From  the  first  his  success  may  be  said  to  have  been 
extraordinary.  His  knowledge,  tact,  and  quickly  sympathetic  nature  soon 
brought  him  patients,  while  the  painstaking,  conscientious  attention  which  he 
devoted  to  each  case  permitted  few  failures.  Seven  years  later  he  accepted  the 
Professorship  of  Anatomy  at  Rush,  and  for  twelve  years  he  brought  to  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  incident  thereto  an  aptitude  and  fidelity  rarely  equalled. 
To  the  dull,  dry  details  of  an  uninteresting  branch  of  medical  study  he  sue- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  223 

ceeded  in  imparting  an  interest  largely  due  to  his  own  method,  patience  and 
skill.  His  students  loved  him,  not  only  for  his  thorough  knowledge  and  his 
faculty  for  succinct  explanation,  but  for  habitual  gentleness  and  forbearance 
as  well.  The  class  of  1881  presented  him  with  a  handsomely  engrossed 
testimonial,  and  thousands  of  young  practitioners  in  the  West  pay  cheerful 
tribute  to  the  earnestness  and  thoroughness  of  his  instruction,  to  which  they 
attribute  in  no  small  degree  their  success  in  surgery. 

In  1887  he  succeeded  the  eminent  Dr.  Moses  Gunn  in  the  Chair  of 
Surgery  in  his  Alma  Mater.  Not  long,  afterward  the  governing  authorities 
of  the  institution  requested  him  to  deliver,  before  the  Faculty  and  students, 
a  memorial  address  upon  the  life  and  services  of  his  illustrious  predecessor. 
Few  panegyrics  of  a  similar  nature  can  be  said  to  rival  it  in  purity  of  thought, 
keenness  of  analytical  power,  breadth  of  conception  and  simplicity  and  ele- 
gance of  diction.  A  single  passage,  reading  almost  like  a  prophetic  forecast 
of  his  own  career,  may  be  quoted  here : 

"The  man  who  would  inscribe  his  name  high  on  the  walls  of  the  temple 
erected  in  commemoration  of  the  deeds  of  great  surgeons  alongside  the  scroll 
bearing  the  name  of  Moses  Gunn — upon  the  reading  of  which  all  men  will 
gladly  pay  the  obeisance  of  honor  and  respect — must  be  a  perfect  master  of 
the  construction  and  functions  of  the  component  parts  of  the  human  body; 
of  the  changes  induced  in  them  by  the  onslaught  of  disease;  of  the  defects 
cast  upon  them  as  a  legacy  by  progenitors;  of  the  vital  capacity  remaining 
in  them  throughout  all  vicissitudes  of  existence.  He  must  be,  at  the  same 
time,  wise  in  human  nature,  wise  in  the  laws  of  general  science,  and  wise  in 
social  amenities.  Most  men,  in  any  vocation,  come  sooner  or  later  to  enjoy 
some  portion  of  their  work  more  than  all  the  rest.  The  treasure  of  Professoi 
Gunn's  heart,  professionally,  was  his  free  surgical  clinic;  the  work  he  most 
loved  was  done  here,  and  the  doing  of  it  gave  the  most  happiness.  No 
possible  combination  of  circumstances,  except  absolute  physical  disability  or 
absence  from  the  city,  seemed  powerful  enough  to  keep  him  out  of  the  well- 
known  arena  at  the  appointed  hour  of  his  coming.  Who  can  ever  estimate 
the  good  done  by  this  man,  in  this  one  department  of  labor?  Further,  all 
of  it  done  for  charity's  sake,  his  best  efforts,  his  accumulated  knowledge,  his 
manhood's  energies,  his  bodily  strength,  given  away  for  years  as  freely  and 
bountifully  as  the  air  we  breathe  is  given  us." 

Dr.  Parkes  was  subsequently  chosen  Treasurer  of  Rush,  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death  he  retained  this  office,  as  well  as  the  Chair  of  Surgery.  His 
reputation  as  a  surgeon,  resting  upon  his  recognizedly  profound  learning  and 
his  singular  success,  brought  his  services  into  request  at  many  of  Chicago's 
leading  hospitals.  He  was  an  Attendant  Surgeon  at  the  Presbyterian,  Sur- 


224  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

geon-in-charge  at  St.  Joseph's,  Consulting  Surgeon  in  the  Hospital  for 
Women  and  Children;  Surgeon-in-chief  of  the  Augustana  Hospital  and  At- 
tending Surgeon  at  the  Cook  County  Institution.  He  also  filled  the  Chair 
of  Surgery  at  the  Chicago  Policlinic.  He  was  a  member  and  for  a  time 
President  of  the  Chicago  Medical  and  Gynecological  Societies,  and  found 
time  to  support  the  State  and  National  Associations.  In  1890  he  attended 
the  World's  Medical  Congress  in  Berlin,  and  was  made  chairman  of  the  Sur- 
gical Section  of  that  body  of  savants. 

His  great  specialty  was  abdominal  surgery,  in  which  he  was  a  pioneer 
investigator,  and  perhaps  the  greatest  living  authority  of  his  day.  He  was 
the  first  to  advocate  uniting  severed  intestines,  in  this  antedating  both  Drs. 
Senn  and  Murphy.  In  speaking  of  his  research  in  his  chosen  field,  Dr.  N.  S. 
Davis,  Sr.,  writes :  "For  the  purpose  of  gaining  a  better  knowledge  of  both 
the  consequences  and  method  of  treatment  of  gunshot  wounds  of  the  intes- 
tines, Dr.  Parkes,  in  1883,  conducted  an  extensive  series  of  experiments 
upon  dogs.  The  experiments  numbered  more  than  forty,  involving  not  only 
direct  gunshot  wounds  of  the  intestines  and  mesentery,  but  also  of  nearly  all 
the  viscera  of  the  abdomen.  He  studied  carefully  the  dangers  from 
hemorrhage,  from  inflammation  and  from  sepsis.  The  following  year,  as 
chairman  of  the  Section  of  Surgery  and  Anatomy  of  the  American  Medical 
Association,  he  delivered  an  address,  in  which  he  ably  discussed  the  subject 
of  gunshot  wounds  of  the  abdomen  and  the  relations  of  his  experiments  there- 
to. To  his  address  was  appended  a  detailed  account  of  each  experiment  to 
the  number  of  forty-five."  [See  Vol.  II,  Journal  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, 1884,  pp.  589-608.] 

With  regard  to  these  experiments  on  canines,  -Dr.  J.  H.  Etheridge,  a 
cotemporary,  has  given  a  somewhat  more  detailed  account,  as  follows :  "Dur- 
ing the  summer  and  fall  of  1883,  he  began  a  series  of  experiments  in  intes- 
tinal surgery  which  revolutionized  existing  ideas  in  that  branch  of  surgical 
achievements.  Up  to  that  time  surgery  had  treated  gunshot  wounds  of  the 
abdomen  expectantly.  His  extended  experiences  in  laparotomies  led  him  to 
inquire,  'Why  cannot  surgery  at  once  and  fully  avail  to  place  such  injuries 
within  reach  of  the  operative  art?'  His  first  publication  of  experiments  on 
dogs  was  based  on  work  performed  on  thirty-nine  animals.  The  dog,  after 
being  anaesthetized,  was  shot  through  the  abdomen ;  a  laparotomy  followed, 
the  perforations  through  the  intestines  being  found  and  closed,  under 
thorough  antisepsis.  The  number  of  recoveries  in  his  animals  astounded  the 
medical  profession,  and  led  to  further  experiments  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
He  made  his  first  report  on  his  new  work  at  the  meeting  of  the  American 
Medical  Association  at  Washington,  in  1884.  He  exhibited  three  specimens 
of  intestines  in  successful  cases,  preserved  from  dogs  slain  after  their  re- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  225 

covery.  He  took  with  him  to  that  meeting  a  small,  living  dog,  from  which 
he  removed  five  feet  of  intestine  that  had  been  perforated  by  bullet  holes  so 
numerous  that  section  was  necessary.  His  later  and  more  complete  reports 
of  this  work  have  been  translated  and  published  in  the  medical  literature  of 
all  countries  of  the  globe.  He  may  be  said  to  have  laid  the  foundation  for 
the  rational  treatment  of  penetrating  gunshot  wounds  of  the  abdomen,  and 
might  have  truthfully  exclaimed  with  Horace,  'Exegi  monumentum,  acre 
perennius'." 

In  the  same  vein  Dr.  J.  B.  Murphy  has  written:  "To  Prof.  Charles 
Theodore  Parkes  belongs  the  honor  of  having  made  the  first  scientific  experi- 
mental research  on  gunshot  wounds  of  the  small  intestines,  in  the  West. 
His  work  was  so  thorough  and  so  complete  that  it  laid  the  foundation  for 
many  of  the  subsequent  practical  appliances  for  the  repair  of  intestinal 
lesions.  He  first  devoted  himself  to  the  observations  of  the  immediate,  inter- 
mediate and  remote  pathological  conditions  resulting  from  gunshot  wounds 
in  the  abdomen,  and  clearly  and  forcefully  outlined  the  necessities  for  im- 
mediate laparotomy  if  good  results  were  to  be  obtained  by  surgical  interven- 
tion. He  thoroughly  blazed  the  way  to  present  accepted  methods  of  treat- 
ment of  gunshot  wounds.  Preceding  Prof.  Parkes's  forceful  demonstrations 
and  experiments,  gunshot  wounds  of  the  abdomen  were  treated  on  the 
'expectant'  plan.  From  the  time  of  his  paper,  which  was  a  milestone  in  ab- 
dominal surgery,  they  have  all  been  treated  by  immediate  intervention.  Many 
of  us  recall  how  spell-bound  that  great  surgical  audience  was  when  Prof. 
Parkes  read  the  original  report  of  his  experiments  at  Washington.  His  vork 
in  the  surgery  of  the  gall-bladder,  which  was  then  in  its  very  infancy  (indeed 
if  not  in  its  pre-natal  stage),  was  no  less  conspicuous  in  influencing  the  pro- 
fession in  the  proper  direction,  in  this  line  of  treatment,  than  was  his  work  in 
intestinal  surgery.  Preceding  Parkes,  there  was  not  a  quarter  of  a  hundred 
ideal  cholecystotomies,  while  now  there  are  more  than  that  many  thousand, 
showing  his  great  foresight  in  recognizing  the  practical  place  for  surgery  in 
the  relief  of  the  common,  and  up  to  his  time  untreated,  surgical  maladies. 
He  was  indeed  a  past  master  in  the  large  range  of  abdominal  surgery  of  the 
preceding  decade.  With  his  force  and  genius,  it  is  difficult  to  estimate  what 
he  would  have  accomplished  in  the  rushing  tide  of  progress  of  the  decade 
that  has  passed  since  his  death." 

To  Dr.  Parkes's  capacity  for  work  there  appeared  to  be  no  limit.  A 
tireless  enthusiasm,  born  not  of  self-seeking  but  of  devotion  to  science  and 
humanity,  was  supported  and  re-enforced  by  a  magnificent  physique.  Broad- 
shouldered,  full-chested,  and  with  powerful  limbs,  his  height  was  more  than 
six  feet  and  his  weight  exceeded  two  hundrd  pounds — well-proportioned, 

15 


226  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

although  with  a  slight  tendency  toward  portliness.  A  gentle,  kindly  face  was 
surmounted  by  a  massive  brow,  and  his  appearance  commanded  at  once  con- 
fidence and  respect.  Well  rounded  features  and  a  general  air  of  bonhomie 
inspired  affection,  and  with  little  children  he  was  always  a  favorite  and  a 
confidant.  In  writing  of  the  extraordinary  amount  of  work  which  he  per- 
formed at  his  clinics,  Dr.  Etheridge  says :  "Each  week  throughout  the  year, 
up  to  the  time  of  his  demise,  he  conducted  three  surgical  clinics,  which,  for 
variety  and  extent,  were  pronounced  by  physicians  competent  to  judge  as 
without  parallel  in  the  annals  of  medical  college  teaching.  *  *  *  He  was  the 
pioneer  of  laparotomists  before  large  classes  of  medical  students,  and  was 
the  first  to  perform  the  operation  of  cholecystotomy  in  a  public  clinic.  *  *  * 
I  have  seen  him  open  a  clinic  with  a  laparotomy,  following  it  with  a  thigh 
amputation,  a  knee  resection  and  four  minor  operations." 

His  quick  perception  and  almost  intuitive  judgment  rendered  him  well 
nigh  infallible  in  diagnosis,  and  yet,  although  confident  in  his  own  con- 
clusions, he  was  ever  ready  to  lend  a  willing  ear  to  suggestions.  His  touch 
was  gentle  and  his  nerve  steady,  and  no  matter  how  tense  the  strain  or  grave 
the  responsibility  of  a  delicate  operation,  he  was  ever  able  to  guide  his  knife 
to  the  "unerring  line  of  safety."  Throughout  his  busy  life  he  was  always  a 
hard,  enthusiastic  student.  A  fluent  reader  of  French  and  German,  he  kept 
himself  in  close  touch  with  the  medical  literature  of  continental  Europe.  In 
1878  he  spent  some  months  abroad,  studying  under  eminent  surgeons  in 
England,  Germany  and  France,  and  ten  years  later  again  visited  the  hospitals 
and  infirmaries  of  the  Old  World. 

Dr.  Parkes  read  much,  and  possessed  a  cultivated  literary  taste,  being  not 
averse  to  seeking  rest  and  relaxation  in  the  perusal  of  fiction.  His  own 
literary  style  was  founded  upon  the  best  models.  He  was  fond  of  collecting 
rare  medical  works.  One  of  his  most  highly  prized  treasures  was  an  edition 
of  "Godefridi  Bidloo,  Medicinae  Doctoris  et  Chirurgi,  de  Anatomia-Hvmani 
Corporis,  Centum  &  quinque  tabolis,  per  G.  LeLairesse,  A.  D.,  1685."  After 
the  appearance  of  his  brochure  on  the  treatment  of  gunshot  wounds,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made,  his  writings  consisted  chiefly  of  reports  of 
unusually  interesting  and  important  clinical  cases  and  the  preparation  of  his 
clinical  lectures.  For  several  years  before  his  death  he  had  been  accumulating 
material  for  works  on  general  and  abdominal  surgery,  but  his  sudden  passing 
away  prevented  the  completion  of  his  self-imposed  task.  Those  writings 
which  he  left  were  published  by  Mrs.  Parkes,  in  "Clinical  Lectures"  (The 
W.  S.  Keener  Co.,  Chicago).  A  partial  list  of  his  published  writings  is  ap- 
pended: "A  Case  of  Uterine  Cancer,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal,  1880;  "A 
Case  of  Complete  Vertical  Dislocation  of  the  Patella,"  Ibid.,  1883;  "Intestinal 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  227 

Obstruction  from  an  Abscess  behind  the  Posterior  Layer  of  the  Peritoneum ; 
Abdominal  Section;  Recovery;"  Ibid.,  1883;  "A  Case  of  Compound  Com- 
minuted Fracture  of  Skull,  with  Wound  of  the  Superior  Longitudinal  Sinus ; 
Lateral  Suture  of  the  Vein  Wound;  Recovery;"  Annals  of  Anatomy  and 
Surgery,  Brooklyn,  1883;  "Operative  Interference  in  Penetrating  Gunshot 
Wounds  of  the  Abdomen,"  Medical  Nezvs,  1884;  "A  Unilocular  Ovarian 
Cyst,  Weighing  Twenty-four  Pounds,"  New  York  Medical  Journal,  1884; 
"Gunshot  Wounds  of  Small  Intestines,"  Chicago  Medical  Journal 
and  Examiner,  1884;  "Removal  of  Epithelioma  from  Inside  of 
Cheek  Without  Hemorrhage  into  the  mouth,"  Weekly  Medical 
Review,  Chicago,  1884;  "A  Case  of  Cholecystotomy,"  American 
Journal  Medical  Science,  1885;  "Laparotomy  for  Abdominal  Tu- 
mors," New  York  Medical  Journal,  1884;  "Specimens  from  Bat- 
tey's  Operation  and  of  Ovarian  Tumor,  with  Twisted  Pedicle,"  Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  1886;  "Cholecystotomy,"  Medical  Nezvs, 
1886;  "Uterine  Fibroids,  Treated  by  Fluid  Extract  of  Ergot,"  Ibid.,  1886; 
"Successful  Removal  of  Uterus  for  Fibroids,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  1886;  "Two  Cases  of  Cholecystotomy,"  Transactions,  American 
Surgical  Association,  1886;  "A  Review  of  Some  Facts  Connected  With  Gun- 
shot Wounds  of  the  Abdomen,  and  Practical  Deductions  Therefrom,"y4«wa/.y 
of  Surgery,  St.  Louis,  1887;  "Interstitial  Pregnancy,  with  Removal  of  the 
Product  of  Conception  through  Uterine  Cavity,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  1887;  "What  Are  the  Best  Methods  of  After-Treatment  in 
Cases  of  Gunshot  Wounds  requiring  Laparotomy  and  Suture  of  Intestines?" 
Transactions,  New  York  Medical  Association,  1886;  "A  Case  of  Ovarian 
Cystoma  with  Twisted  Pedicle,"  American  Journal  Obstetrics,  1887;  "A 
Case  of  Nephrectomy,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1888;  "Re- 
port of  First  Fifty  Operations  for  Ovarian  Tumors,"  Obstetrical  Gazette, 
Cincinnati,  1888;  "A  Case  of  Cholecystotomy,  with  Specimens  of  Gallstones," 
Western  Medical  Reporter,  1 889 ;  "A  Precise  Method  of  Excision  of  Clavicle, 
Scapula  and  Humerus,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1889; 
"Fibro-sarcom  in  Antrum  Highmori ;"  "Entfernung  der  Geschwulst  nebst 
des  angegriffenen  Knochen;  Heilung,"  Arch.  f.  klin.  Chir.,  1889;  "Abdomi 
nal  operations  for  Uterine  Disease,"  Obstetrical  Gazette,  1889;  "Ovar- 
iotomy and  Other  Cases,"  Medical  Neivs,  1889;  "Cyste  der  Bauchspeicheld- 
riise;  Befestigung  der  Cystemwand  an  die  Bauchwand;  Heilung,"  Arch.  f. 
klin.  Chir.,  1889;  "A  Case  of  Total  Extirpation  of  Kidney,"  Western  Medi- 
cal Reporter,  1889;  "Rundzellensarcom  12  cm.  im  Durchmesser,  die  Seite  des 
Kopfes-einnehmend ;  Entfernung  der  Geschwulst  und  Bedeckung  der  Wunde 
mit  Hautnach  Thiersch,"  Arch.  f.  klin.  Chir.,  1889;  "Entfernung  des  Armes 


228  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

nebst  Scapula  und  Clavicula,"  Arch.  f.  klin.  Chir.,  1889;  "Exarticulation  des 
Beines  in  Hiiftgelenke;  Osteosarcom  des  Humerus;  Heilung,"  Arch.  f.  klin. 
Chir.,  1889;  "Querbruch  der  Kniescheibe;  Eroffnung  des  Gelenkes,  Vernah- 
ung  der  Fragmente  mit  Catgut;  Heilung,"  Arch.  f.  klin.  Chir.,  1889; 
"Osteomyelitis  of  Humerus,  and  Other  Cases,"  Medical  News,  1889;  "Ex- 
hibition of  Large  Dermoid  Cyst,"  Western  Medical  Reporter,  1889;  "Ovar- 
iotomy," Medical  News,  1890;  "Remarks  on  the  arrangements  necessary 
previous  to  performing  operations,"  New  Orleans  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal,  1889-90;  "A  Series  of  Thirty  Clinical  Laparotomies,"  American 
Journal  Obstetrics,  1890;  "Report  of  Clinical  Laparotomies  during  Eighteen 
Months  at  Rush  Medical  College,"  Obstetrical  Gazette,  1890;  "Two  Cases 
of  Old  Irreducible  Dislocation  of  the  Hip,  treated  by  open  incision,"  North 
American  Practitioner,  1890;  "Uterine  Myoma,"  Journal  American  Medical 
Association,  1890;  "Renal  Calculus  and  Surgical  Operations  upon  Kidney," 
Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1891 ;  "Death  During  Chloroform 
Administration,"  Journal  American  Medical  Association,  1891 ;  "Operative 
Treatment  of  Goitre,"  Chicago  Medical  Recorder,  1891 ;  "Gall-stones,  and 
their  Surgical  Relief,"  Ibid.,  1891 ;  "Scirrhus  of  the  Breast,"  International 
Clinic,  1891 ;  "Epiphyseal  Fracture  of  Upper  End  of  the  Humerus,"  Ibid., 
1891 ;  and  "On  the  Pathology,  Etiology  and  Treatment  of  Hip  Joint  Disease, 
in  the  Light  of  Present  Bacteriological  and  Operative  Experience,"  Annals 
of  Surgery,  1892. 

Among  the  many  tributes  paid  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Parkes  and  the 
work  he  so  successfully  and  so  thoroughly  accomplished,  Dr.  John  Owens 
writes :  "My  first  recollection  of  Dr.  Charles  T.  Parkes  was  during  his  stu- 
dent life.  He  shortly  after  became  a  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  in  Rush 
College,  and  was  one  of  the  most  useful  and  competent  teachers  in  the  college. 
After  holding  the  Chair  of  Anatomy  for  many  years,  to  the  great  benefit  of 
the  College,  he  became  Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery, 
after  the  death  of  Dr.  Moses  Gunn.  Dr.  Parkes  died  of  pneumonia  during  his 
professorship.  He  did  a  great  deal  of  experimental  work,  and  was  one  of 
the  earliest  investigators  of  wounds  of  the  intestines,  and  probably  laid  the 
foundation  of  intestinal  surgery,  giving  that  branch  of  the  art  a  great  im- 
petus. He  was  also  a  great  help  to  the  students,  and  few  members  of  the 
Faculty  were  more  popular  on  account  of  intrinsic  worth  than  Dr.  Parkes." 
Dr.  Eugene  S.  Talbot  has  written :  "Dr.  Charles  T.  Parkes,  one  of  the  most 
enthusiastic  teachers  and  investigators  of  his  time,  felt  vividly  the  wave  of 
original  research  that  surged  up  in  the  eighties.  This  brilliant  scholar  and 
surgeon  was  thus  led  to  initiate  most  intricate  studies  in  abdominal  and  in- 
testinal surgery,  and  thereby  laid  the  foundation  for  the  most  successful 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  229 

modern  operations.  His  ability  as  a  teacher  of  anatomy  was  far  beyond  that 
of  the  average  professor.  His  death  caused  a  great  loss  to  science,  the  medi- 
cal profession  and  the  community." 

In  private  life  Dr.  Parkes  was  genial  and  fond  of  society,  although  the 
engrossing  nature  of  his  professional  engagements  left  him  little  time  in 
which  to  indulge  his  natural  bent.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Union  and  the 
Union  League  Clubs,  and  held  high  rank  in  the  Masonic  order.  During  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  study  and  work  constituted  his  chief  recreations, 
although  he  sometimes  found  time  in  which  to  become  a  charming  guest  at 
social  functions  or  a  genial,  courteous  host.  He  was  a  thorough-going  sports- 
man and  an  expert  with  both  rod  and  gun.  Each  summer  he  was  wont  to 
seek  recuperation  in  hunting  and  fishing.  He  was  a  member  of  a  fishing 
club  whose  annual  excursion  was  to  the  primeval  forests  of  Restigauche,  New 
Brunswick,  where  he  used  to  delight  in  drawing  from  the  water  the  salmon, 
not  infrequently  landing  one  twenty-five  pounds  in  weight.  At  other  times 
he  loved  to  wander  with  his  rifle,  in  the  trackless  Wisconsin  woods,  where 
large  game  were  to  be  found,  and  where  he  once  brought  down  a  black  bear 
weighing  two  hundred  pounds. 

His  domestic  life  was  one  of  exceptional  happiness.  His  wife's  maiden 
name  was  Isabella  J.  Gonterman.  She  was  descended  from  one  of  the  old 
families  of  Kentucky,  and  gave  her,  hand  in  marriage  to  Dr.  Parkes,  at  Troy, 
Illinois,  in  1868.  Their  children  were  Charles  Herbert  and  Irene  Edna. 
The  son  graduated  with  distinction  from  Rush  in  1897,  an(l  tne  following 
year  was  appointed  assistant  in  Anatomy  to  Professor  Bevan,  and  in  March, 
1901,  appointed  assistant  in  Surgery.  During  the  summer  of  1890  Dr. 
Parkes  sent  his  family  abroad  in  order  that  the  son  and  daughter  might  enjoy 
better  advantages  for  the  study  of  foreign  languages.  In  the  spring  of  1891 
he  was  attacked  by  pneumonia.  His  professional  brethren  did  all  that  medi- 
cal skill,  joined  to  personal  love,  could  do  to  preserve  a  life  so  valuable  alike 
to  his  family  and  friends,  to  science  and  to  the  world,  but  the  dread  disease 
defied  remedial  care,  and  on  March  28th  the  great  surgeon  fell  asleep.  Scarcely 
more  than  forty-eight  years  old,  in  the  full  vim  and  vigor  of  robust  man- 
hood, and  at  the  very  zenith  of  his  fame,  he  died.  At  first  thought,  it  seems 
strange  that  a  life  so  full  of  glorious  possibilities  should  thus  be  so  abruptly 
terminated.  But  the  keen  clear  eye  of  faith  can  pierce  the  dark  clouds  that 
seem  to  settle  around  the  horizon  of  the  grave,  and  gaze  behind  the  veil  of 
immortality.  In  the  world  of  science  in  which  he  shone  so  brightly,  he  yet 
lives.  To  those  who  knew  him  best  and  loved  him  most  his  memory  will 
ever  remain  as  an  abiding  presence,  a  never  failing  incentive,  and  a  perpetual 
benediction.  Such  lives  as  his  are  never  lost. 


230  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

MALCOLM  LASALLE  HARRIS,  M.  D. 

Beginning  as  a  general  physician  some  twenty  years  ago,  Dr.  Harris  was 
soon  recognized  as  having  peculiar  qualifications  for  the  surgical  branch  of 
his  profession.  From  taking  particular  interest  in  such  cases,  and  giving 
all  available  time  to  their  study  and  treatment,  he  came  to  make  Surgery,  his 
specialty,  and  has  given  all  his  time  to  that  line  since  1890.  His  success 
may  be  best  judged  by  the  standing  he  has  gained  in  such  a  center  of  ad- 
vanced thought  and  up-to-date  practice  as  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  by  the 
positions  of  high  responsibility  to  which  he  has  been  called.  As  an  active 
practitioner,  an  advocate  of  and  worker  for  the  most  progressive  methods, 
and  a  prolific  writer  on  topics  relating  to  his  specialty,  he  is  a  very  busy  man, 
and  to  much  purpose. 

Dr.  Harris  was  born  June  27,  1862,  in  Port  Byron,  Illinois,  son  of  Samuel 
Gedney  and  Frances  Thankful  (Greene)  Harris,  and  is  descended  on  both 
sides  from  old  New  England  ancestry.  The  father,  who  was  a  merchant, 
was  born  and  reared  in  Boston,  in  which  city  his  ancestors  had  lived  for 
generations,  they  having  been  of  the  Puritan  stock  which  came  from  Eng- 
land at  an  early  day.  Mrs.  Harris  was  born  in  Vermont,  a  daughter  of 
Josiah  Greene,  and  a  descendant  of  Gen.  Nathanael  Greene,  whose  fore- 
fathers came  to  these  shores  from  England  in  early  Colonial  days,  and  lived 
in  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont. 

M.  L.  Harris  received  his  literary  education  in  the  public  schools,  and 
his  professional  training  in  Rush  Medical  College,  Chicago,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1882.  Following  his  graduation  he  was  Interne  in  the  Cook 
County  Hospital  until  1884,  and  in  the  latter  year  took  up  private  practice 
in  Chicago,  continuing  as  a  general  physician  and  surgeon  until  1890,  since 
when  he  has  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  Surgery.  Regarding  his  fitness 
for  this  line,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  of  Chicago,  under  date  of  October  9. 
1903,  writes: 

"Dr.  M.  L.  Harris,  of  Chicago,  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession 
twenty  years  since,  and  early  developed  a  predilection  for  Surgery.  Though 
still  belonging  to  the  younger  class  of  surgeons,  he  has,  during  the  last  decade, 
made  rapid  advancement  in  the  field  of  operative  surgery,  in  which  he  is  not 
only  a  thorough  student,  but  is  also  possessed  of  those  mental  qualities  that 
fit  him  for  a  true  leader  in  this  his  chosen  department.  He  is  a  valuable 
contributor  to  the  pages  of  medical  literature,  and  an  active  supporter  of 
medical  organizations,  both  State  and  National." 

Dr.  Harris  is  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  Chicago  Policlinic,  with 
which  institution  he  has  been  connected  since  its  inception,  in  1887;  Surgeon 
to  the  Alexian  Brothers,  Passavant,  Children's  and  Policlinic  Hospitals; 


LIBRARY 

OF  ILLINOIS 

URBAHA 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  231 

Chief  Surgeon  to  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company;  Surgeon  to  the 
Grand  Trunk  Railway  Company;  and  Medical  Referee  for  the  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company  of  New  York. 

The  Doctor  holds  membership  in  various  organizations  of  his  profession, 
being  connected  with  the  International  Surgical  Association,  the  American 
Surgical  Association,  the  American  Medical  Association,  the  American 
Society  of  Clinical  Surgery,  the  Western  Surgical  and  Gynecological  Asso- 
ciations, and  the  Illinois  State  Medical,  the  Chicago  Surgical,  the  Chicago 
Medical,  the  Chicago  Gynecological,  the  Chicago  Pathological  and  the 
Physicians  National  X-Ray  Societies.  He  was  president  of  the  Illinois  State 
Medical  Society  in  1902,  and  is  at  present  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association. 

Dr.  Harris  was  married  to  Miss  Rose  Breckenridge,  and  they  have  one 
child,  Florence. 


JOHN    B.  HAMILTON,  M.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Dr.  John  B.  Hamilton,  late  of  Chicago,  was  born  in  Jersey  county, 
Illinois,  December  i,  1847.  He  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  medical 
men  of  the  United  States,  and  he  enjoyed,  without  doubt,  the  widest  personal 
acquaintance  of  American  physicians.  He  stood  foremost  among  medical 
editors,  and  won  a  national  reputation  for  executive  ability,  and  he  possessed 
over  a  score  of  certificates  of  honorable  mention  for  worthy  and  valuable 
service,  of  membership  in  American  and  European  scientific  societies,  and 
was  the  recipient  of  many  degrees  and  tokens  of  honor.  He  was  a  well-known 
and  well-recognized  leader  of  debates  in  medical  societies.  His  reputation 
long  ago  passed  from  a  local  to  a  national  one,  and  he  was  known  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  world  instinctively  pays  deference  to  the  man  who 
achieves  success  and  fame  worthily,  who  so  industriously  applies  his  talents 
as  to  force  wide  recognition  from  State  and  Nation.  Dr.  Hamilton  was  one 
of  the  few  men,  endowed  by  nature  with  rare  ability,  and  the  State  Legisla- 
ture mentioned  him  for  meritorious  service,  while  national  cabinet  officials 
singled  him  out  for  honorable  mention  for  valuable  services. 

Dr.  Hamilton  was  graduated  from  Rush  Medical  College  in  1869,  and 
he  continued  in  general  practice  from  March,  1869,  until  1874.  In  1871 
he  married  Miss  Mary  L.  Frost,  who  with  two  children,  Ralph  Alexander 
and  Blanche,  survives  him.  He  entered  the  army  by  competitive  examination 
in  1874,  as  Assistant  Surgeon  and  First  Lieutenant,  serving  in  St.  Louis, 
and  Washington  Territory,  until  1876,  when  he  resigned.  He  then  entered 
the  Marine  Hospital  service,  also  by  competitive  examination,  in  which  he 


232  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

rapidly  rose  to  the  rank  of  Supervising  Surgeon-General,  succeeding  Gen. 
John  M.  Woodworth,  who  died  March  10,  1879.  In  this  department  Dr. 
Hamilton  won  his  well  deserved  and  widely  recognized  reputation  as  a  man 
of  superior  executive  ability.  He  organized  the  whole  department,  and  finally 
succeeded  in  placing  it  practically  on  equal  footing  with  the  Corps  of  the 
Army  and  Navy.  He  first  introduced  the  important  visual  examination  of 
pilots,  and  physical  examination  of  seamen.  Through  Dr.  Hamilton's  ef- 
forts chiefly,  and  from  his  own  drafting,  the  national  quarantine  acts  were 
passed.  He  successfully  managed  campaigns  against  epidemics  of  yellow 
fever,  and  received  the  thanks  of  the  Legislature  of  Florida  for  services  dur- 
ing the  epidemic  of  December,  1889.  In  June,  1891,  Dr.  Hamilton  resigned 
because  the  House  of  Representatives  failed  for  a  second  time  to  pass  the 
Senate  bill  which  provided  that  the  salary  of  the  Supervising  Surgeon-General 
of  the  Marine  service  should  be  equal  to  that  of  the  Surgeon-General 
of  the  Army  and  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  Navy,  after  which  he  entered 
again  the  ranks  of  the  service.  He  was  assigned  to  duty  in  Chicago,  and 
removed  thither.  His  rare  executive  ability,  his  meritorious  service  and  dis- 
tinguished surgical  skill  won  for  him  a  position  in  Rush  Medical  College, 
his  old  Alma  Mater,  as  one  of  the  successors  of  the  immortal  Brainard. 
While  in  Washington  he  was  Surgeon  to  Providence  Hospital,  where  he  held 
a  weekly  clinic,  and  he  was  the  Professor  of  Surgery  in  Georgetown  Univer- 
sity Medical  Departme'nt  for  eight  years,  up  to  1891,  when  he  left  Wash- 
ington. In  1888  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor,  of  Laws  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Georgetown.  On  returning  to  Chicago,  he  was  made  Professor  of 
the  Principles  of  Surgery  and  Clinical  Surgery  in  Rush  Medical  College, 
Surgeon  to  the  Presbyterian  Hospital,  and  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the 
Chicago  Policlinic,  Consulting  Surgeon  to  St.  Joseph's  Hospital,  and  to  the 
Central  Free  Dispensary.  In  1887  he  was  the  Secretary-general  of  the  Ninth 
International  Medical  Congress,  held  in  Washington,  and  in  1890  he  was 
a  delegate  from  our  government  to  the  International  Medical  Congress,  held 
in  Berlin,  and  there  made  the  response  on  behalf  of  the  American  delegates 
to  the  address  of  welcome.  Professor  Hamilton  held  a  weekly  surgical  clinic 
at  Rush  Medical  College.  He  was  author  of  various  articles  in  medical 
journals,  and  of  "Lessons  on  Longevity,"  and  "Lectures  on  Tumors,"  and 
was  the  American  editor  of  Moulin' s  Surgery,  published  in  1893.  He 
founded  "Camp  Perry"  in  Florida,  in  the  yellow  fever  epidemic  of  1888, 
and  in  1892  founded  "Camp  Low,"  on  Sandy  Hook,  New  Jersey,  as  a  refuge, 
or  cholera  camp,  for  the  overflow  from  New  York  quarantine.  In  1893  he 
was  elected  editor  of  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  and 
through  his  four  years  of  successful  management,  that  magazine  had  a  circu- 
lation of  over  12,000.  As  Executive  President  of  the  Section  on  General  Sur- 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  233 

gery,  in  the  first  Pan-American  Medical  Congress,  he  delivered  an  address  on 
"General  Surgery,"  and  subsequently  wrote  an  editorial  of  great  interest  for 
the  Journal  on  the  "Future  Great  University,"  and  the  establishment  of  such 
an  institution  in  this  country,  suggested  by  this  assembly  of  physicians  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere.  He  was  an  efficient  member  and  official  of  various 
medical  congresses,  being  Secretary-General  of  the  Ninth  International  Medi- 
cal Congress  at  Washington. 

During  Dr.  Hamilton's  professional  life  he  several  times  had  occasion 
to  resign  from  important  offices,  but  subsequently  circumstances  have  shown 
his  action  to  be  the  most  dignified  and  proper- course  to  pursue.  Mr.  Foster, 
formerly  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  remarked,  "I  do  not  believe  the  country 
has  produced  an  abler  man  in  his  line  than  Dr.  J.  B.  Hamilton."  Mr.  Tiche- 
nor,  first  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  said,  "Dr.  Hamilton  as  a 
bureau  officer  was  exceptionally  able  and  efficient,  displaying  in  every  emer- 
gency administrative  abilities  of  the  very  highest  order."  During  all  this 
time  he  kept  up  his  surgery  at  Providence  Hospital,  and  it  was  there  that, 
in  1895,  he  made  the  second  successful  operation  for  suturing  intestines  for 
pistol  shot  wounds. 

The  essential  feature  of  Dr.  Hamilton's  surgical  work  was  accurate  diag- 
nosis and  rapid  operating.  His  surgical  clinic  was  of  inestimable  practical 
value  to  students,  inasmuch  as  his  views  and  labors  in  surgery  were  conserva- 
tive. He  was  an  impressive  and  forcible  teacher,  a  fluent  and  entertaining 
speaker,  using  expressions  at  once  concise  and  classical,  while  his  striking 
personality  infused  much  dignity  into  his  subject. 

Among  the  surgical  operations  for  which  Prof.  Hamilton  was  justly 
famous  was  that  for  hernia,  he  being  one  of  the  first  surgeons  to  introduce 
the  modern  methods  of  herniotomy  in  Chicago,  and  his  classical  paper  read 
in  Chicago,  in  1886,  to  which  the  reader  may  be  referred,  is  one  of  the  most 
accurate,  concise  and  instructive  articles  on  this  subject.  To  illustrate  his  ex- 
tensive practice  in  herniotomy  at  one  of  his  recent  clinics  at  Rush  Medical 
College,  he  presented  in  the  arena  eight  cases  of  herniotomy  on  which  he  had 
operated,  in  none  of  which  was  a  drop  of  pus,  a  showing  of  which  any  sur- 
geon may  well  be  proud,  for  if  there  be  any  locality  in  the  human  body  which 
it  is  difficult  to  preserve  aseptic  after  operation,  it  is  the  groin.  The  proximity 
of  the  groin  to  the  genitals,  the  accumulation  of  considerable  low-grade  non- 
resisting  fat  tissue  and  its  limited  vascular  supply,  makes  operations  on  the 
groin  prone  to  suppuration. 

Dr.  Hamilton's  method  of  performing  herniotomy  was  the  result  of  the 
previous  twenty  years'  accumulation  in  surgical  progress.  It  included  the  ad- 
vance in  herniotomy  made  by  such  surgeons  as  Champonnier,  Marey,  Basini, 
Halstead,  Ferguson,  Senn,  and  others,  w7hich  consists  in  an  efficient  restoration 


234  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

of  abdominal  walls,  which  were  made  deficient  by  cogenital,  or  acquired,  pro- 
cesses. In  doing  the  operation  the  cord  is  removed  from  its  old  dilated  inguinal 
canal  to  a  location  immediately  under  the  superficial  and  deep  fascia,  and  its 
abnormal  point  of  exit  is  removed  nearer  to  the  anterior  iliac  spine.  The  ingui- 
nal canal  pillars  of  the  hernial  ring,  or  better  the  slit  in  the  inguinal  region,  is 
closed  by  three  to  five  silver  wire  sutures,  which  are  left  permanently  buried. 
The  superficial  and  deep  fascia  is  sutured  over  the  spermatic  cord  by  catgut, 
and  the  skin  is  united  by  interrupted  silkworm  gut  sutures.  Many  a  surgeon 
has  profited  by  observation  of  Dr.  Hamilton's  labors  in  herniotomy,  and 
Chicago  was  justly  proud  of  him  as  one  of  its  distinguished  men  of  science. 

Dr.  Hamilton  combined  the  rare  traits  of  an  eminent  citizen,  a  distin- 
guished man  of  letters  and  a  skilled  surgeon.  He  was  an  honorable  gentle- 
man and  a  genial  companion,  and  a  friend  of  whom  many  were  proud.  His 
circle  of  usefulness  increased  with  time.  He  was  always  an  industrious  man, 
and  few  would  care  to  work  as  many  hours  in  the  day  as  he  did  for  the  last 
fifteen  years  of  his  life.  Shortly  before  his  death,  without  his  asking,  the 
Governor  of  Illinois  requested  him  to  become  Superintendent  of  the  Illinois 
Northern  Hospital  for  the  Insane  at  Elgin,  and  by  great  economy  of  his 
time,  he  found  that  he  would  be  able  to  accept  it.  His  force  as  an  organizer 
was  soon  felt.  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  Sr.,  says  of  Dr.  Hamilton :  "A  man  of 
much  activity  and  force  of  character,  a  successful  writer  and  teacher,  and  a 
very  efficient  executive  officer  as  shown  by  his  work  in  connection  with  the 
United  States  Marine  Hospital  service,  the  Ninth  International  Medicine 
Congress  of  1887,  and  the  editorship  of  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medi-. 
cat  Association." 

Dr.  John  B.  Hamilton  died  at  the  age  of  fifty-one  in  the  prime  of  physi- 
cal vigor.  He  was  attacked  by  typhoid  fever  which  progressed  until  an  in- 
testinal perforation  occurred,  and  he  succumbed  to  hemorrhage  from  the 
bowels  several  days  later.  Dr.  Hamilton  was  a  dignified  gentleman  of  mili- 
tary bearing,  of  polite  manners  and  of  simple  habits.  He  was  of  amiable 
disposition  and  mild  to  his  associates.  He  was  generous  to  a  fault,  chival- 
rous, bold  and  sternly  resolute  in  duty.  He  was  beloved  by  his  friends  and  he 
commanded  esteem  even  from  his  foes. 

[BYRON  ROBINSON.] 


r/ 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  235 

EPHRAIM  INGALS,  M.  D. 

The  Ingals  family  was  planted  in  America  by  Edmund  Ingalls,  who 
came  from  England  with  Governor  Endicott's  colony,  landing  at  Salem  in 
September,  1628.  Edmund  Ingalls  was  the  first  settler  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts. 
From  him  all  of  the  name  of  Ingalls  or  Ingals  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  have 
descended.  Of  this  number  Ephraim  Ingals  was  born  in  Abington,  Connecti- 
cut, May  26,  1823,  the  youngest  of  nine  children.  His  father  and  mother 
both  dying  before  he  was  eight  years  old,  the  family  became  scattered,  and 
young  Ephraim  was  turned  adrift  in  the  world,  his  future  depending  on  his 
own  efforts.  In  1837  he  came  to  what  is  now  Lee  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
worked  three  years  on  a  farm.  For  a  short  time  he  attended  school  in  Prince- 
ton, Mt.  Morris  and  Jacksonville,  Illinois.  Having  but  little  money  to 
acquire  even  an  education,  he  was  obliged  to  combine  manual  labor 
with  study.  He  attended  lectures  in  Rush  Medical  College  during 
the"  sessions  of  1845-46  and  1846-47,  graduating  in  February  of  the 
last  year.  After  practicing  medicine  ten  years  in  Lee  Center,  Illinois,  he  re- 
moved to  Chicago,  where  he  soon  acquired  a  good  reputation  as  a  general 
practitioner,  and  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  business  man  of  more  than  or- 
dinary capacity.  He  was  associated  for  a  time  in  the  conduct  of  the  North- 
western Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  with  Prof.  Daniel  Brainard,  and  later 
with  Prof.  De  Laskie  Miller.  He  was  ever  a  close  friend  of  Dr.  Brainard, 
and  was  appointed  by  him  as  the  executor  of  his  estate.  In  1859  he  was 
elected  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  in  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege, to  succeed  Dr.  John  H.  Rauch,  who  had  resigned.  He  accepted  the  posi- 
tion, and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  its  duties  with  the  same  industry  and 
fidelity  that  had  characterized  him  in  all  other  relations  of  life.  He  was  not 
a  brilliant  lecturer,  but  a  superior  teacher  whose  instruction  was  character- 
ized by  clearness  of  expression  and  sound  practical  application,  and  he  added 
much  strength  to  the  Faculty.  He  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his 
professorship  for  eleven  years,  during  much  of  which  time  he  was  also 
Treasurer  of  the  college  and  an  active  worker  in  the  construction  of  a  new 
building.  At  this  time  his  extensive  private  practice  and  college  duties  often 
compelled  him  to  go  to  his  early  morning  lecture  without  having  slept  at  all 
the  previous  night.  During  all  of  these  years  he  missed  only  one  lecture,  and 
that  was  at  the  time  of  Dr.  Brainard's  death.  In  1871  he  resigned  the  chair 
of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  in  the  college  and  was  elected  Emeritus 
Professor.  Soon  after  his  resignation  the  Chicago  fire  swept  away  the 
improvements  on  the  greater  part  of  his  real  estate  and  it  required  the  labor 
of  years  to  repair  his  losses.  Through  it  all,  however,  he  retained  his  original 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  medical  profession  and  of  Rush  Medical  College  as 


236  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

his  Alma  mater,  for  he  had  no  sooner  recovered  from  the  effects  of  the  great 
fire,  and  secured  for  himself  a  fair  income,  than  he  began  to  devise  ways  and 
means  for  advancing  the  interests  of  both.  His  first  suggestion  was  for  the 
securing  of  a  lot  and  suitable  building  for  a  permanent  medical  library  for  the 
benefit  of  the  profession  at  large.  Finding  himself  forestalled  in  this  by  the  offer 
of  the  trustees  of  the  Newberry  Library  to  provide  a  permanent  Medical 
Library  Department  in  that  institution,  he  cordially  gave  his  personal  in- 
fluence in  that  direction,  and  turned  his  attention  more  actively  to  the  work 
of  elevating  the  standard  of  medical  education.  He  was  a  strong  advocate 
of  a  higher  requirement  of  general  education  for  students  before  commencing 
the  study  of  medicine,  and  for  an  increased  term  of  graded  medical  college 
instruction  before  graduation.  He  did  not  limit  his  influence  in  those  direc- 
tions solely  to  the  advancement  of  Rush  Medical  College,  but  gave  substantial 
encouragement  to  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Northwestern  University 
by  a  donation  of  $10,000  toward  the  erection  of  the  present  excellent  labora- 
tory building  of  that  institution.  He  was  greatly  interested  in  having  Rush 
Medical  College  become  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  and  gave  $25,000  to  the  college  at  the  time  it  became  affiliated  with 
that  institution,  with  the  foresight  to  see  that  this  step  would  be  a  great  factor 
in  the  advancement  of  medical  education  throughout  the  country. 

Of  him  Dr.  Nicholas  Senn  has  written :  "Dr.  Ephraim  Ingals  was  the 
type  of  a  family  physician.  He  was  a  leader  in  his  profession,  loved  by  his 
students  and  universally  respected  by  his  colleagues.  Although  not  an  author 
he  added  to  the  advancement  of  medicine  by  his  teachings  and  practice." 

Dr.  Ingals  gave  up  all  practice  in  1893,  but  retained  his  interest  in  medi- 
cal affairs  until  the  close  of  lilfe.  He  died  of  senile  heart  and  angina  pectoris 
December  18,  1900,  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his  age. 


DANIEL  BRA1NARD,  M.  D. 

Dr.  Daniel  Brainard,  of  Chicago,  Illinois,  was  born  in  Westernville, 
Oneida  county,  New  York,  May  15,  1812,  and  died  October  10,  1866.  He  re- 
ceived a  fair  general  education;  studied  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Pope, 
of  Rome,  New  York,  a  prominent  surgeon,  and  was  graduated  in  medicine 
from  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  in  1834,  at  a  time  when  Dr. 
George  McClellan,  the  founder  of  the  institution,  was  in  the  zenith  of  his 
renown.  Dr.  Brainard  immediately  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession 
in  Whitesboro,  a  village  in  his  native  county;  but  the  next  year,  prompted 
by  a  just  ambition  for  a  wider  field  of  professional  work,  he  removed  to 


MM  1  I    ' 
•  Iff/ 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  237 

Chicago.  Hon.  John  Dean  Caton,  who  had  been  a  student  of  law  in  Rome, 
New  York,  while  Dr.  Brainard  was  studying  medicine  in  the  same  place,  but 
who  had  already  established  himself  in  a  law  office  in  Chicago,  describes 
the  arrival  of  the  latter  in  the  following  language: 

"About  the  ist  of  September,  1835,  Dr.  Brainard  rode  up  to  my  office 
wearing  pretty  seedy  clothes  and  mounted  on  a  little  Indian  pony.  He  re- 
ported that  he  was  nearly  out  of  funds,  and  asked  my  advice  as  to  the  pro- 
priety of  commencing  practice  here.  I  knew  him  to  have  been  an  ambitious 
and  studious  young  man  of  great  firmness  and  ability,  and  I  did  not  doubt 
that  the  three  years  since  I  had  seen  him  had  been  profitably  spent  in  acquiring 
a  knowledge  of  his  profession.  I  advised  him  to  go  to  the  Indian  camp,  where 
the  Pottowatomies  were  gathered  preparatory  to  starting  for  their  new  loca- 
tion west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  sell  his  pony,  take  a  desk  or  rather  a  little 
table  in  my  office  and  put  his  shingle  by  the  side  of  the  door,  promising  to 
aid  him,  as  best  I  could,  in  building  up  a  business." 

Dn  Brainard  appears  to  have  made  rather  slow  progress  during  the  first 
two  years,  but  in  1838  a  laborer  on  the  canal,  several  miles  from  the  city, 
received  a  fracture  of  the  thighbone,  and  before  complete  union  had  taken 
place  he  came  to  Chicago  on  foot,  which  induced  so  much  inflammation  that 
at  a  council,  at  which  were  present  Drs.  Brainard,  Goodhue,  Maxwell  and 
Eagan,  it  was  decided  that  amputation  was  necessary.  The  majority  advised 
amputation  below  the  trochanters,  while  Dr.  Brainard  thought  it  should  be 
done  at  the  hip  joint.  Dr.  Brainard  was  selected  to  operate,  while  Dr.  Good- 
hue  was  to  compress  the  femoral  artery.  The  young  surgeon  dexterously 
removed  the  limb  below  the  trochanters,  but  finding  the  medullary  substance 
of  the  bone  diseased  higher  up,  he  immediately  proceeded  to  amputate  at  the 
hip  joint.  The  patient  progressed  favorably  for  one  month,  and  the  wounds 
were  nearly  healed,  when  secondary  hemorrhage  occurred,  proving  fatal. 
The  post-mortem  examination  revealed  a  large,  bony  neoplasm  attached  to 
the  pelvic  bones  and  surrounding  the  femoral  artery.  The  case  attracted 
much  attention  at  the  time,  and  contributed  largely  toward  giving  the  opera- 
tor a  leading  position  as  a  surgeon. 

In  1839  tne  Doctor  visited  Paris,  France,  and  spent  some  time  in  further 
studies,  having  reference  to  the  opening  of  the  new  medical  college  in  Chicago, 
which  was  accomplished  in  December,  1843,  an(l  named  in  honor  of  Dr. 
Rush.  In  this  institution  Dr.  Brainard  became  the  Professor  of  Anatomy  and 
Surgery.  He  now  rapidly  acquired  a  high  reputation  as  a  teacher  and  surgi- 
cal operator,  and  for  twenty  years  did  a  large  surgical  practice,  more  ex- 
tensive, in  fact,  than  any  other  in  the  Northwest.  In  1852  he  visited  Europe 
the  second  time;  was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  Surgical  Society  of 


238  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

Paris,  and  brought  home  some  osteological  specimens  for  the  museum  of 
Rush  Medical  College. 

"In  the  spring  of  1866  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  a  third  time,  and  spent 
a  few  months  on  the  continent,  but  returned  home  in  time  to  commence  his 
annual  course  of  lectures  on  Surgery  in  Rush  Medical  College.  The  epidemic 
cholera  had  been  prevailing  in  many  places  in  this  country  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1866,  and  had  prevailed  moderately  in  Chicago,  from  the  last  week  in 
June  to  the  middle  of  August,  when  it  entirely  ceased.  Consequently  all 
those  citizens  who  had  left  the  city  early  in  the  season,  to  escape  exposure 
to  the  dreaded  disease,  returned  in  September,  supposing  all  danger  passed. 
But  about  the  ist  of  October  the  disease  suddenly  developed  with  renewed 
violence,  and  caused  a  thousand  deaths  before  the  end  of  the  month.  Among 
the  early  victims  was  Dr.  Brainard,  who  was  attacked  soon  after  leaving  the 
lecture  room  of  the  college,  and  died  in  a  few  hours.  He  had  been  a  firm 
believer  in  its  direct  contagiousness,  and  had  in  all  previous  epidemics,  from 
1849  to  I854,  avoided  as  far  as  possible  any  personal  contact  with  cases  of 
the  disease.  Neither,  is  it  known  that  he  had  been  directly  in  contact  with 
any  case  before  the  final  attack  upon  himself." 

Dr.  Brainard  was  a  close  student,  an  original  or  rather  an  independent 
thinker,  and  an  active  investigator.  During  the  years  from  1849  to  1851 
be  used  a  solution  of  iodine  and  iodide  of  potassium,  by  injection  into  serous 
sacs,  filled  with  serous  fluid,  including  cases  of  ascites,  hydrocephalus,  spina 
bifida  and  even  edema  of  the  extremities,  on  the  theory  that  changing  the 
quality  of  the  dropsical  fluid  would  stop  further  effusion  and  promote  ab- 
sorption. He  reported  several  cases  as  much  improved,  but  the  effects  were 
generally  temporary. 

During  the  same  years  he  made  many  experiments  in  the  hope  of  finding 
some  remedy  that  would  cure  cancerous  growths,  by  destroying  the  cancer 
cells,  either  by  local  application  or  by  injection  into  the  blood,  or  by  both. 
He  prepared  solutions  of  a  dozen  or  more  substances,  such  as  bichloride  of 
mercury,  arsenic,  extract  of  conium,  iodide  and  lactate  of  iron,  into  which  he 
put  pieces  of  cancerous  tumor,  and  note  carefully  the  effects  upon  cancerous 
tissue.  The  mercury,  arsenic  and  iodine,  being  good  antiseptics,  preserved  the 
tissue,  while  the  lactic  acid,  with 'the  iron,  rapidly  digested  or  dissolved  it. 
He  then  injected  between  five  and  ten  grains  of  lactate  of  iron,  dissolved  in 
pure  water,  into  the  cephalic  vein  of  a  moderate  sized  dog,  without  any  in- 
jurious effects.  Encouraged  by  this  result,  he  began  to  treat  all  cases  of 
cancer  that  came  under  his  care  by  giving  ordinary  doses  of  lactate  of  iron 
by  the  stomach,  and  injecting  once  in  from  six  to  ten  days  a  solution  of  the 
same  into  the  blood  through  a  vein  in  the  arm,  especially  to  destroy  such 
cancer  cells  as  might  be  diffused,  while  when  practicable  the  cancerous 


PHYSICIANS    AND    SURGEONS.  239 

growths  were  thoroughly  removed  by  surgical  operation.  He  reported 
several  cases  as  favorably  affected  by  the  treatment  and  one  case  of 
acephalous  disease  of  the  eyeball  in  an  adult  was  reported  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Medical  Science  as  effectually  cured.  Unfortunately,  however, 
the  disease  re-appeared  in  a  few  months  and  proceeded  to  a  fatal  termination. 
One  fact  was  developed  during  the  progress  of  these  experiments  worth  re- 
membering, namely,  that  a  given  substance  may  be  injected  into  the  venous 
blood  with  safety  that  if  injected  into  the  arteries  or  into  the  areolar  tissue 
would  produce  the  most  destructive  effects.  Several  times,  when  endeavor- 
ing to  inject  a  solution  of  lactate  of  iron  into  one  of  the  veins  of  the  arm,  a 
few  drops  were  allowed,  by  mistake,  to  infiltrate  the  areolar  tissue,  and  it  in- 
variably destroyed  all  such  tissue,  leaving  a  clean,  ulcerated  surface. 

While  he  was  in  the  active  prosecution  of  these  experiments,  a  patient 
came  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Brainard,  with  a  well-formed  popliteal  aneurism. 
Instead  of  litigating  the  artery,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  coagulating  the  blood 
in  the  aneurismal  sac.  Of  course  the  lactate  was  carried  into  the  capillaries 
of  the  leg,  and  it  was  speedily  followed  by  an  inflammation  so  intense  and  ex- 
tensive that  amputation  of  the  limb  became  necessary. 

While  in  Paris,  in  1852,  Dr.  Brainard  prosecuted  a  series  of  experiments 
with  iodine  to  neutralize  the  poison  of  serpents,  and  communicated  the  re- 
sults to  the  Surgical  Society  of  that  city ;  and  after  his  return  he  presented  an 
essay  embodying  the  same  facts  to  the  Illinois  State  Medical  Society.  An- 
other line  of  investigation  that  engaged  his  attention  for  several  years  was 
the  successful  treatment  of  false  joints  by  the  subcutaneous  perforation  of 
fractured  bones  by  means  of  wire  sutures.  This  surgical  procedure,  how- 
ever, was  not  original  with  him,  as  it  had  been  successfully  established  by 
Dr.  Physick,  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  The  results  obtained,  how- 
ever, by  Dr.  Brainard  were  embodied  in  an  essay  presented  to  the  American 
Medical  Association,  at  the  annual  meeting  at  St.  Louis,  in  1854,  which  re- 
ceived the  prize  awarded  that  year,  and  was  published  in  the  Transactions 
the  same  year. 

In  subsequent  years  Dr.  Brainard,  like  others  of  his  adopted  city,  yielded 
to  the  temptation  to  increase  his  pecuniary  resources  by  dealing  in  real  estate 
and  public  business,  and  gave  correspondingly  less  attention  to  original  in- 
vestigation, or  even  to  the  practical  duties  of  his  profession.  After  the  great 
Rebellion  had  begun,  in  1861,  he  was  appointed  on  the  State  Board  for  ex- 
amining candidates  for  appointment  as  surgeons  and  as  assistant  surgeons 
to  the  numerous  regiments  of  Illinois  volunteers,  and  rendered  good  service 
in  that  capacity. 

Physically  Dr.  Brainard  was  tall  and  well  proportioned,  dignified  in 
manner,  bordering  on  reserve;  as  a  public  speaker,  or  in  his  lecture  room  in 


240  A    GROUP    OF    DISTINGUISHED 

the  college,  he  was  clear,  forcible,  and  always  commanded  attention,  and  he 
retained  his  popularity  and  controlling  influence  as  Professor  of  Surgery  and 
as  President  of  Rush  Medical  College,  of  which  he  was  the  chief  founder, 
until  his  sudden  death,  which  occurred  when  he  was  aged  only  fifty-four 
years,  and  when  at  the  height  of  his  eventful  and  exalted  professional  career. 
He  lived,  however,  to  see  the  city  of  his  adoption,  in  which  he  had  always 
been  a  conspicuous  pe/sonage,  increase  from  a  population  no  greater  than  an 
ordinary  county  seat  to  a  metropolis  of  two  hundred  thousand.  At  the  time 
of  his  death  he  had  been  engaged  on  an  extensive  surgical  work,  which  re- 
mains unfinished,  but  those  yet  living  who  have  listened  to  his  clinical  teach- 
ing, and  have  witnessed  his  skill  as  an  operator,  will  long  remember  him  as 
one  of  the  most  eminent  of  American  surgeons. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  URBANA 


